From the Ashes
by YKVasilisk
Summary: Ash just lost against Trip in the Vertress conference, so going back home while thinking about everything he could have done better, he remembers his drive to be the very best, after all... is all about love and support. Will his father's news raise his mood?
1. A new Begining - Learn from Experience

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story: "From the Ashes". Now for those of you who have been following my other stories you might be asking "Hey! Does this mean that you are going to leave your other stories unfinished?" the answer is no. In other words, I'll be finishing my other main story soon, you might find a new chapter next weekend which will prompt me into finishing it.**

 **¿Then… why don't I finish the others first? Simple, I have a lot of ideas and they would clash and mess up the whole scheme for those, so I'll flush this story out of my brain while finishing the "Rise"… and probably "The Mask".**

 **Now then, it's been a while since I wrote an English story, for those of you who are not familiar with me or my stories then you must know, I've never studied English in any institution before nor is my mother tongue, so if you spot any mistake please be kind enough to point it out to me.**

 **Finally, I own the world, so no disclaimer needed. (Joking)**

* * *

A new beginning – Learn from Experience.

It had been some time since Ash departed from Unova to Kanto, on the way home he encountered a new friend, Alexa, a reporter from the Lumiose city in the Kalos region. Now they were on their way to Kanto, having parted ways with Iris and Cilan, they had been traveling by ship for 3 days and our young hero was getting bored and annoyed.

"This damned ship… how I wish this thing could move faster…" – he let escape a small sigh, remembering the outcome of his last tournament.

Pikachu just sweat dropped at his trainer desperation to move faster.

Ash had won de Valley of Lily tournament and was expected to win the Unova league, but luck was not by his side this time, or at least, that is what he wanted to believe… that it had been all a matter of luck, but as he thought more about it he couldn't deny that he had done things differently in Unova than in Sinnoh.

First, he had rotated his Pokémon a lot while traveling in Sinnoh, Brock had helped him by teaching him the right way to take care of his Pokémon and Dawn had supported him all the way to the conference.

He also took more seriously his travel, finding that if he mixed older and younger Pokémon the younglings would learn a lot, and it did pay off when Gible evolved into a Gabite after training one week under Charizard's tutelage, and finally into a Garchomp just one month after that.

His Snivy had also reached its final stage as a Serperior after training with Sceptile for three weeks, after that it seemed like Sceptile had just gotten a new excuse to train even harder.

For the first week after finding that his Pokémon trained the newbies under a harsh and special routine, Ash had feel that they were forcing themselves too much, and it wasn't until Charizard snapped at him, telling him that not only his dreams were at stake, but theirs too.

The younglings had a newfound respect for the veterans as they too wished to be regarded as the strongest of their own, and with a newfound resolution, they had gone through hell and became stronger.

That tournament had been the most memorable as he had defeated a full legendary team, it was an almost even match, but in the end, Charizard had stood victorious over Tobias Entei. He even remembered how some of the people that had watched the match had started calling him as the "Legend Slayer" and expected a lot of him.

But he got too confident, when he stepped into Unova, it was like he had forgotten everything he went through Sinnoh, making one mistake over the other. He had traveling companions, but they weren't as close to him like Brock and Dawn had been, or May and Max… or even Misty. The memories of their last goodbye was still fresh in his mind.

 _ **Flashback.**_

 _After losing the tournament, Ash had walked back to the Pokémon center, where Iris and Cilan were waiting for him._

 _The first one to notice him was Iris "Hey Ash! Too bad that you lost that match, but come on, don't be such a kid, is not the end of the world"_

 _Cilan gave a light nod at his friend's words "Iris is right Ash, you learn a lot from losing, besides there will be other tournaments"_

 _This had annoyed Ash a lot, he knew all that, but to rub salt on one wounds was just low, they didn't care that he had lost, they didn't care if he could get better, but…_

" _This journey was disappointing, I really expected too much from you Ash, I guess I'll just find another path…" Iris words made it clear, they weren't there to support him, and they just went along for their own gain._

" _You are right guys, there will be another tournament waiting for me in another region" Said Ash while getting up and walking out the Pokémon center._

 _Cilan followed him to the entrance and asked "Well… what is our next destination?"_

 _Ash looked at him and chuckled a little "Yours? I don't know, but mine is ahead, so far away from Unova where I can't see shams like you guys again" and with that he left them._

 _ **End Flashback.**_

He had tried to win the Unova league by using just the Pokémon that he caught there, a foolish decision as most of the members of his team were very young, but he understood a little too late, he was too absorbed into teaching Trip a lesson that he never rotated his team to let the veterans pass on their teachings.

" _Dad would be disappointed in me"_ The black haired teenager tough to himself. His father had left one year before he started his Pokémon Journey, and every time he returned home his mother would tell him that he had missed his father for days, or even hours like when he returned from Jhoto, but she always reassured him that his father watched all his League battles with her at home, and that he always cheered for him the loudest of all the neighborhood.

It felt good knowing that he cared enough to go back home every time Ash assisted to a tournament.

Remembering back at the times when he traveled in Sinnoh, he knew there was something else to his victory. People always thought him to be dense about relationships, but the truth is that he knew about feelings and romance, his mother had actually taken her time to teach him about boys and girls… and that talk about the bees… well, he knew his way around feelings pretty well.

Dawn had been a great friend, a great companion, but there was something else every time he looked at her eyes. He didn't know what at the beginning, and after a few months he found his answer in the form of a pink ribbon, his most treasured memento of a girl he used to know and that was what drove him all the way into winning the league.

They say that children love is the purest form of love, there are no perversions, no malice behind actions, just love and the wanting of being with one another, and he had felt that way for a certain girl… _"Serena… to think that I almost forgot about you."_

While traveling on other regions, he had been searching for her, just in case that she had starter her journey 7 years ago like him.

When he was traveling Sinnoh he had forgotten about it for the first month, and as time went on, his resolution to find her only increased. Dawn had actually talked to him about the feelings she had developed to the end of their journey, but Ash had told her that he was grateful for those feelings, although he didn't feel the same way.

Dawn had been at the verge of crying when Ash told her that he, for just the spawn of a minute, had felt something towards her.

 _ **Flashback.**_

" _Is there a reason you don't like me back? Is it because you are going away?" Dawn wanted to know why he couldn't feel the same way._

" _Actually no, you see…" After taking a small sip of breath he looked at her eyes "… For a moment I felt something for you when I first looked into your eyes, but I understood that it was the reminiscence of the girl I love, and that she is still out there waiting for me to find her."_

 _Dawn understood that he didn't return her feelings because he was already in love "So… this girl… is she pretty?"_

 _Ash looked at her, he didn't want to hurt her feelings any more than he already had to. "If you ask me that, the answer is going to be a total yes, she is beautiful… at least from what I remember…"_

 _Dawn couldn't help but let escape a soft giggle, even if she was being turned down, Ash clumsiness was just too cute for her. "Can I ask… can I ask more about her? Her name? How did you two met?"_

 _Ash smiled at this, he knew she was hurting badly, but it was nice of her to be so understanding, it only meant that her feelings for him were real… and if he couldn't return them like she wanted, she would at least give her something similar._

" _Dawn… you know, for some time I had this strange feeling about you, I knew I wasn't in love with you… but I assure you that I do love you…" At this Dawn eyes widened, what was he talking about? "… I do love you like a little sister, you are important to me, because you support me like no one else has ever done… and besides ¿Who doesn't want a cute girl as a little sister?"_

 _Now that had done it, she instantly jumped from joy and hugged him because now she knew that even if he didn't love her like she did, he did indeed have a special place for her in his heart, a place that she would always cherish, protect and zeal._

 _Ash hugged her back after recovering from the shock, and caressed her hair softly while smiling slightly "Like a little sister indeed…" he thought to himself, he then remembered that he had yet to answer her questions._

" _Well… you asked about her, right?"_

 _Dawn gave a soft nod, taking a few steps away to sit under the tree they were currently talking, Ash sat down beside her after a moment. "Her name is Serena, she has those beautiful blue eyes that just take your breath away, I think that was the first thing that caught my attention… anyway, we were…"_

 _ **Flashback End**_

He remembered how they spent almost every hour of every day he spent there before parting ways, but what made him really happy was that she had more than gladly taken the tittle of little sister to heart, at her own words "It has its perks" or at least that was what she said.

Everything was fine and dandy until the day his ship had to leave, just as he was about to board she had hugged him, now that wasn't the problem, the problem came afterwards.

" _Take care… onii-chan!"_

Oh that had killed him alright, she was laughing her head out when she saw him blush madly and try to cover a little trickle of blood.

Pikachu had felt ashamed of his trainer for being so weak against a girl's cuteness… that is, until Buneary came out of her pokéball and ran to hug him… talk about awkward.

" _Just… what kind of weapon have I unleashed?" He asked her while wiping his nose and clutching his chest trying to calm his heart._

" _A very dangerous and powerful one it seems… onii-chan" she said again enjoying every minute of his reaction._

He would have to be careful around her, or his health could be in danger.

As he continued remembering his travels through Sinnoh, Alexa approached him with camera in hand, taking a few pictures of the islands on the horizon.

"Hey Ash, is kind of boring here, right?"

This snapped him out of his thoughts and looked at her with a smile "Yeah, the ship is going so slow that is almost as if we weren't moving at all"

Pikachu left a soft yawn and went into his trainer's backpack to sleep.

Just as Ash focused on another island, he saw something that caught his attention, it was a flock of birds, and although he couldn't make out what kind of Pokémon they were, he had a nice feeling about it.

"Unfezant come out!" The bird Pokémon let out a cry and looked at his trainer "Hey buddy, could you make me a favor?"

The bird nodded at his trainer and landed on the iron fence of the ship, waiting his orders.

Ash took out a Pokéball and showed it to Unfezant "I want you to approach that flock over there…" he pointed to the island "…and look for a Pokémon that looks like this" After pushing some buttons on his Pokedex he showed it to Unfezant, the bird nodded slightly at the image "…Show him this Pokéball and tell him that his trainer has come to fulfill his promise… or at least visit."

The bird nodded again and flew quickly at the flock of birds that were traveling to one of the islands, after a few minutes Unfezant reached his destination, but what he found intimidated him… this was definitely not what he expected from the leader, it was… well… big!

A giant Pidgeot looked at the tiny bird, or at least it was in comparison to him, trying to look friendly to the newcomer.

Unfezant then showed him the pokeball and told him what his trainer had ( **Greetings my friend, my trainer send me looking for one of you, he wanted me to tell you that, and I quote "Ash has returned to fulfill his promise… or at least visit"** )

Pidgeot eyes widened in surprise, so this Unfezant was one of his old friend's new partners. He turned around and talked to his flock ( **Well folks, this was fun, but now I have a promise to fulfill…** ) he approached another Pidgeot, bigger than average but still smaller than him.

( **You will be their new leader, I've taught you everything I know, you will be fine** ) the flock started telling his former leader that they didn't want him to go, but he told them that they would be fine, they were stronger than before.

Pidgeot told Unfezant to lead the way, and both of them started flying back to the ship, the larger bird excited to see his friend again.

In the interest of time…

Alexa was wondering what Ash was doing, he had sent his Unfezant to meet a flock of bird Pokémon "Ash? Is Unfezant going to be alright?"

"Yeah, he is going to be fine, just wait a moment"

After some minutes he could see his Unfezant coming back, and to his greatest joy, a larger bird was following him.

Alexa watched in interest at the sky, noticing that the bird accompanying Unfezant seemed to grow larger and larger over the time, until a massive Pidgeot landed over Ash and started rubbing his head against his trainer's chest.

"I'm glad to see you again Pidgeot!" said the Trainer while trying to stand up, he looked at the flabbergasted expression on Alexa and smirked at this "Close your mouth Alexa, or flies might go in"

Alexa shook her head a few times and looked at Ash in amazement "Wow… Ash your Pidgeot is huge!" shouted the reporter.

A yell could be heard seemingly from nowhere "That's what she said!"

After realizing the double meaning behind her words, she quickly yelled "I didn't meant that!"

Ash tilted his head in confusion "Who said what?"

This gave Alexa some relief "Nothing Ash! Nothing!"

Ash started massaging Pidgeot's wings like Brock had taught him on their time in Sinnoh with Staraptor, Pidgeot enjoyed every moment of it while he ate the food that his trainer had given him a moment ago.

"So Alexa, what do you say if we just leave those Slowpokes behind and get to Kanto faster?"

Alexa was not so thrilled about his idea, airplanes where one thing… but birds didn't come with safety belts nor were there any airbags "I don't know Ash… it might be dangerous"

"Nonsense! I trust in my Pidgeot to take us there fast and safetly, right pal?" he asked his Pidgeot for confirmation, the bird nodded and approved of his trainer eagerness for an aerial adventure "Well, you can stay if you want, but I want to take a shower sooner than later, so I'll go directly home"

At this Alexa realized that he was right, the ship had a shower but it didn't come with a washing machine, her clothes were dirty, and she didn't want to do it herself in the shower "Alright, just let me grab my things"

After a few moments she returned with a backpack, it was just enough for a reporter to move two sets of clothes and her camera´s accessories "Are you sure Pidgeot can take us all the way to Kanto?"

Pidgeot took offense, so he took the reporter with his beak and put her on his back, taking her stuff with his claw and taking off at great speed ( **Can I take them? I'll show her** )

The screams of panic could be hear on the horizon as Pidgeot flew away with the scared woman and his laughing trainer.

One and a half hour later…

Pidgeot landed just outside Ash's house, stretching his wings to rest from the long journey while Pikachu talked to him.

"I told you we would be safe, you didn't have to yell in my ear you know?" Said Ash with an amusement.

"I was scared!" defended Alexa.

Ash just shook his head twice "For 1 hour!" he almost yelled.

Just then the front door opened revealing a young-looking woman, Delia was about to ask what the noise was about when she saw her son "Ash! Oh my god I can't believe it!" she ran to his son, hugging him tightly, just then a familiar voice to Ash sounded behind them.

"Come on honey, let him breath, I want to see my soon face before he dies" joked the man.

Delia turned around and glared at her husband "Anthony Red Ketchum! You won't stop me from showing my baby how much I love him!"

A Pikachu jumped over his shoulders and looked at him with a face that said ( **Oh she said your full name… she never says your full name unless…** )

"Yes, I know I'm in problems, but that can wait for later" he then went over them and embraced his wife and son, who had been trying to say something all this time.

Alexa watched the scene from a distance beside Pidgeot and Ash's Pikachu, she couldn't believe that Ash was Red's son, the famous world champion, then her eyes widened.

Delia… that name sounded familiar… the only Delia that she knew from stories of some veteran reporters that had accompanied Red on many of his adventures was…

"By the way mom, this is a friend of mine, her name is Alexa…" he then turned to Alexa "…This is my mom"

"If you are friend of Ash the just call me Delia" said the woman with her familiar kindness.

Alexa couldn't contain her excitement, this was the second owner of a Pokedex! "No freaking way! You are Delia Yellow D' Bosque Verde!"

Now Ash was confused, He knew that his mom's last name used to be Bosque Verde, but she never told him what the Y. meant "Why didn't you tell me before that your second name was Yellow, mom?"

"It's a long story, maybe I'll tell you later…" she then turned to Alexa "…Please don't mention this to anyone."

Alexa was surprised by her request but accepted nonetheless.

Red just smiled at his son and motioned for everyone go inside the house "Well? Don't just stand there, come inside, we have some amazing news"

Ash returned his Pidgeot and called for Pikachu, who jumped to his shoulder, Pika spotted him and made a wave with his right paw, while Pikachu answered with a light nod.

It was good to be back home after all.

Meanwhile in a region faraway from there…

* * *

Kalos – Vaniville town.

"Come on Serena! Think like a Ryhorn, you already sleep like one! Be one with the Ryhorn!" A woman with brownish hair tried to encourage her daughter.

Serena tried to keep her grip on Ryhorn's leash but after a few moments she ended up in the floor "Easier for her to say than for me to do" muttered the girl while rubbing her arm.

"I hate this! Never mind, I'm going out into the forest, Fletching come on!" the bird Pokémon flew to her shoulder while the Honey-blond haired girl just walked inside her room and into her room to change her clothes.

Cursing her luck for having to put up with Ryhorn riding, she quickly changed into a red skirt with a black blouse and a red felt-hat, she was about to leave her room but remembered something, walking back to her night stand she took a small blue handkerchief with golden linings on the border.

" _Ash… I wonder if you are looking for me… or if you at least remember me"_

After putting the piece of cloth in her purse she walked out of her room, finding her mother in the front door "Where do you think you are going?"

"I want to take a walk through the forest, you already know that" answered Serena a bit annoyed at her mother's stubbornness at trying to make her do Ryhorn racing.

Grace just let a soft sigh scape and stepped aside "I really hope you can find your passion in life someday… I know what I did in the past is something I won't be able to fix no matter what… but I really want to do things right with my daughter"

"Then bring him back to me… is all I've ever wanted, help me find him, or see him again but please… is so painful to grow from a crush to love someone that is not even there for you, and is worse having to grow without friends, and without my mother"

Grace knew Serena was right, after moving to Kalos she had been so involved with Ryhorn racing that she didn't paid any attehtion to her daughter, often leaving her home because she wasn't feeling good.

I wasn't until a year later that a crying Serena had come home running straight to the kitchen and trying to stab herself with a knife. Luckily Grace was there to witness everything, she stopped her daughter, they had a fight but the mother had learned that Serena was being victim of bullying, that her so called "friends" always stole her money, punched her or just outright humiliated her for the fun of it.

Serena had made her first true friend just six months ago in the form of Shauna, a tanned girl with brownish hair and a hyperactive personality, after that Shauna's boyfriend Calem joined them, he was a nice guy, always protecting the girls.

There was this one time when a guy had confessed his feelings for Serena, but she turned him down.

" _I'm grateful that you feel that way but, I already love someone else"_

The guy had been so mad that he had almost slapped her, but Calem and Shauna had been nearby and successfully had stopped him before he could even do as much as lift a hand.

Grace knew that she had made a terrible choice when she put her career before her daughter. Yes she had money, and yes they didn't have economic problems, but that was also true when she was in Kanto; also she had also tried to spoil her daughter with toys and trips to amusement parks, but having her grow in a humble environment had made her ignore fancy things, Serena preferred activity was to walk in the forest while holding that handkerchief of hers.

Serena stepped out of her home and walked to the forest, just at the edge her friends where waiting for her, Shaun and Calem had made it a point to not hold hands in front of Serena to not make her feel uncomfortable.

There was this one time when they were walking together and Serena just walked behind them, trying to not be the third wheel of the group, Shauna noticed this and talked to Calem about it.

While the three friends where walking towards the forest, Grace was in the living room, remembering when her daughter used to come to her and hug her, telling her all about her day with Ash and how brave he had been while doing things.

Tears were about to spill when suddenly the phone started to ring.

" _Maybe I'll never mend this rift between my daughter and I…"_

She quickly composed herself and answered the call "Hello?"

"Oh Grace! I thought I wouldn't be able to find you!"

" _Or maybe I can..."_

Kanto Region – Pallet Town.

"You are kidding right?" Asked Ash with certain surprise and a hint of anger.

"I'm not, I want to spend more time with my family and this job is just the perfect way, besides, I think you might found interesting what this chance has to offer" answered Red in a playful but serious tone.

"And what is that? Why are you so sure?" asked the young trainer.

Delia entered the living room again, and with a big smile answered "Well… let's just say that I found a very good reason to take the house we are being offered, aside from having a big backyard there is also the chance to meeting her once again."

"Meeting her? Who?" Asked Ash not understanding at first, but after seeing his mother's sly smile realization just hit him in the face "No way!"

"Yes way! I just confirmed it and I can tell you that I'm one thousand percent sure, I actually talked with…" before she could answer Ash was dashing away and into his room.

"I need to pack as fast as I can!" the excited yell of the young Ketchum was answer enough for the family.

"It seems you were right, that was the right incentive" said Red with and amused smile.

Delia just giggled a little and then looked at Alexa who had watched from the sidelines " I want to talk to you about something, I thing you have so much questions regarding my name and why people never found out about me"

Alexa was gleaming at hearing this, she wouldn't make this public but had always wanted to know why the pokedex holder had just disappeared from earth.

* * *

Time skip – 4 days later.

Kalos – Vaniville town.

Serena had been awfully aware of her mother change of humor since a few days ago and she knew that, whatever it was, had actually made her believe that everything would be fine.

" _In four days Serena... I'll make everything right in four days!"_ is what she had told her.

Taking a light blue Sunday dress out of her closet, she quickly changed into it, definitely taking a good shower after the torture from every morning could change her mood. Taking her straw hat and walking out of her room with her treasured handkerchief strapped to her wrist.

"I'll be going to the forest mom!" yelled Serena after dashing to the forest, not waiting for her mother's response.

After leaving her home she noticed a pair of trucks with people carrying boxes inside the next house, she didn't know there were going to be new neighbors "Have to remember to say hi" she mumbled to herself continuing her way to her favorite clearing in the forest.

Meanwhile from the house a Poliwag dashed out into the forest, followed by a Pikachu with a cap on his head "Hey! Come back here!"

A young boy ran after them, following them into the forest.

Serena was having a good time remembering the times in Pallet town when she would play with Ash… but the memory that always came to her was the day they met.

She left a soft sigh escape her lips, and was about to make her way back when suddenly a Poliwag came out of nowhere startling her.

"Kya!" in her panic she tried to turn away but ended tripping with some rocks, twisting her ankle in the process "oh god… this hurts so much! Help!"

" _This hurts so much… Help!"_

Memories suddenly came back to her, and a few rustlings from the bushes in front of her made her heart skip a beat… just for a Pikachu to jump out and look at her.

What caught her attention was that Pikachu was wearing a cap. "Poliwag! Pikachu! Where the heck are you!?"

Serena's attention went to the bushes again, seeing them rustling just like that day.

After a moment, a boy with tanned skin jumped into view and spotted the Pikachu, who was beside Serena, he then noticed the girl and was about to ask something when he looked into her eyes. "No way…" muttered the boy.

Serena recognized him immediately, with tears already spilling.

The boy smiled tenderly and asked "Hey… are you alright?"

" _Are you alright?"_

Both of them knew the next answer already, as it played along their minds at the same time.

The girl shook her head " _ **A Poliwag came out of nowhere and scared me, I think I hurt my ankle"**_

The boy approached her and took the handkerchief in her wrist, using it to put pressure on her ankle _"_ _ **Now I'll just place a small spell… pain pain go away!**_ _"_

She felt so silly right now, but at the same time those feelings of loneliness where fading away, it was as if they had never been separated. " _ **It… It still hurts**_ " she let a small giggle escape her lips and looked at him still in tears but with a big smile and an adoring blush on her cheeks.

He extended his arm to help her stand and smiled " _ **Never give up until the end**_ "

She reached for his hand and gripped it tightly, as if he were going to disappear if she didn't. Standing up, she lost her balance due to him using a little more force than anticipated, so she ended in his arms.

Just as she was about to move back a little, he put his arms around her waist, holding her close to him.

She was surprised by this, but then relaxed in his arms and rested her head in his chest, enjoying the sound of his racing heart.

"I thought I was never going to find you Serena… so many years and regions I've been through trying to find you… and now that I have you, I'm never letting you go away again"

"I've been waiting for so long Ash, I knew you would find me, I never gave up on you" answered Serena, lifting her head and looking into his eyes.

Right there and then Ash knew that what he felt all those years was mutual... he could see it in her eyes, what had grown from an innocent love had actually bloomed into more than that… but for the sake of having a name for this feeling he would call it love.

So without thinking twice he closed the gap between them, kissing her lips with so much tenderness.

Serena was shocked at first, but started to kiss him back after a few moments, placing her hands behind his neck, playing with his hair, not wanting to let go in fear of all this being just a dream.

Meanwhile in the new Ketchum residence, Grace walked out followed by Delia and Red.

"Do you think he will be able to find her?" asked the Ryhon racer.

Red just smirked at her and said "I bet my tittle that he has already found her… I'm as sure as a Poliwag about that"

 **So what do you think? I hope you liked this first chapter, also I have already something planned to work around the problem of Prof. Oak being far away from them.**

 **Also, there will be an explanation about Delia's name, it will be part of the story, althought it won't have such a big impact, as its something that has already been solved.**

 **Let me know your thoughts.**

 **Read and Review please!**


	2. Surprises! - Setting Goals

**Hello everyone!**

 **Thank you all for your reviews guys, I'm glad to know that a lot of you liked the first chapter of this story.**

 **There are a few points I would like to clarify before continuing.**

 **1\. - Will Ash know about his mother's name? Yes, in fact, he will know around the third or fourth chapter.**

 **1.5. – I think I explained already that Ash and Serena did in fact knew each other, and they were together for quite a while because in this story Serena used to live in Kanto, but I'll explain more about this while moving on the adventure.**

 **2\. - Ash's Unfezant is female? … Unfezant will be female for this story too, then… how did it happen? Magic! (:D)**

 **2.5. – About females… Ash and Serena's relationship will not be smooth, of course they will get jealous but not over the edge, after all it is a Romance and Adventure story, keep that in mind. Anyway while this story has them as a couple from the beginning, once they start journeying there won't be too many fluffy moments… I'm allergic to the fluffy stuff… but it will have its own light romance.**

 **3\. - I don't really want to spoil you guys about Serena's goal, but I will say that is NOT performing, I think this is a bit late but this story is an Alternate Universe.**

 **4\. - About Greninja and Delphox… I really love this pair, I loved reading some fics where they were part of the story… I really don't want to spoil this, but it might not happen, why? Mostly because of Serena's goal.**

 **5\. - I'm surprised that none of you asked me why Ash had Serperior in Sinnoh if this Pokémon is an Unova native Pokémon, anyway it will be explained here, the difference is that Ash doesn't have a Torterra, he didn't caught Turtwig.**

 **Overall I think you are going to love this story, mainly because I'm trying to make something original, or at least, that has not been seen in the stories that I've seen so far.**

 **Now that all of this is cleared up, let's go with the main story.**

 **I like dots! (D:)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Surprises – Setting Goals.

Shauna and Calem were walking towards Serena's house, they had just heard their parents talk about a new family moving to their neighborhood and wanted to invite Serena to greet the newcomers.

The tanned girl had asked her mother about the new family, and she had told her that apparently one of the members was a guy about their age, maybe one year older, so she had told her boyfriend that maybe Serena would be able to move on from her crush with a guy that was on the other side of the world if she were to meet with him and actually click.

Calem wasn't so sure about this plan of her, his greatest concern was Tierno, he had been crushing hard on Serena, but she had never noticed his feelings, despite being so obvious, so hearing Shauna's plans he had gone with them to make sure that it didn't work.

Reaching Serena's home Calem knocked the door a few times, but nobody answered.

"Maybe she went to the forest, it is almost time for her 'daily trip to memory lane' after all" said the girl while turning around and making her way to the clearing they often visited.

"Yeah, and I have to tell her how I fell before it's too late!" said Tierno following the girl while Calem just gave a small sigh and shook his head slowly.

As they walked through the forest a Pikachu with a cap passed them by, followed by a Poliwag, this caught Calem's attention.

"Hey guys… did you see that?"

The other two looked around trying to spot whatever it was that Calem had seen, but they found nothing.

"Are you trying to scare me Calem? If you want me to cling to your arm you just have to ask" said Shauna with a sly smile.

Calem just chuckled a little and started walking "I have this strange feeling… that we are going to find something strange ahead… or at least a big surprise"

After a few minutes of walking through the forest they could see the clearing coming to view, Tierno was about to run there when Calem suddenly stopped him.

"What is…?" Tierno tried to ask but was interrupted at seeing Calem with a finger over his lips, signaling for them to be quiet.

Shauna, who was not one to be quiet, was about to speak when an unfamiliar voice made her shut down.

"… I missed you so much…"

Calem, Shauna and Tierno heard this and looked at one another…

"… I'm not letting you go again…"

Now Shauna's eyes widened, that was Serena's voice! Calem motioned for them to move careful while slowly making his way over to the clearing, being careful to not step over any branch.

After spotting a good bush to peer over, they were speechless at what was happening, Tierno even more than the others… there was a guy which they had never seen, kissing Serena on the lips, and holding her close to him.

But even more shocking were Serena's attempts to deepen the kiss and make it more passionate, Shauna had never, in the 6 months she had known Serena, though that she would have it in her to kiss someone so willingly and much less in the lips.

And it seemed like she was enjoying every minute of it, as her hands caressed his hair softly.

Tierno had seen enough and decided to make his presence known, Calem tried to stop him but it was too late, he had stepped over a twig and alerted the couple.

Serena and the mysterious boy turned around and saw the trio coming out of the bushes.

"What are you guys doing here?" Asked Serena a bit annoyed that her moment with Ash had ended.

Shauna looked at her and smiled "Hey! We were looking for you… heard that there was a new family around and we wanted to invite you to go over there and say hi"

Serena remembered that Ash's family was moving to Kalos and smiled "That's true, I still have to say hi too!"

They noticed that even after being spotted, the boy had yet to let go of the honey-blond haired girl, and said girl was most pleased that she was still in his arms.

Then Tierno decided to make his move "But it seems like you are already acquaintance with the new guy, if he is the young son Shauna was talking about"

Serena smile widened and took Ash's left hand with her right "I want to introduce you to my… hmm…" Was she supposed to introduce him as a childhood friend? Best friend? No! That was wrong, they had already show one another that their friendship phase went out through the window once they had kissed.

She loved him, He loved her… they had kissed, and that was what couples do… but were they a couple?

Ash saw the conflict in her eyes and understood her internal struggle, then releasing his hand from Serena's he extended it over to Calem saying "Nice to meet you guys, I'm Ash Ketchum, Serena's boyfriend"

Serena could feel her heart skipping a beat and then soaring through the sky, he had said it! Without containing anymore she jumped at him and hugged him tightly.

Tierno was not pleased about this, for all he knew, Serena barely knew this guy and they were already a couple "Isn't that a bit too fast? I mean you just met today, right?"

Serena giggled and answered "I've known Ash for a very long time now, we used to be childhood friends, but after a while I ended moving here…" She looked at Ash with loving eyes and smiled even more "… To be honest with you guys, I've been crushing on him for the longest time now… you could say I grew loving him"

The big guy was totally saddened by this, so this was the guy Serena talked about whenever she said she was in love already, he had heard her said something about him when turning down other boys, but never had heard his name.

Calem shook Ash's hand and smirked "Nice to meet you Ash, I have to say, it was a hard work to keep every guy away from your girlfriend while you weren't here"

"Is that so? Then I will have to make sure to repay your hard work, any good friend of Serena is a friend to me" Answered Ash with a smirk of his own.

Shauna shivered a bit "They look a lot like brothers don't you think?" mumbled the girl to her friend.

Serena giggled a bit and hugged her boyfriend "I'm not that defenseless you know? I can take care of myself" said the honey-blond girl with a proud grin at her friend.

Calem laughed at this and nodded "Of course you can, I've had to step in a lot of times with Shauna to take you away from their prying hands" Serena was not pleased with Calem's answer so she started pouting while punching him lightly.

Tierno looked at the pair and noticed that Serena's smile around Ash was more natural, it actually seemed real and this just made him realize how much he meant to her, so he just let a soft sigh escape and asked Ash "So you are moving here?"

Ash looked at him and smiled "Yeah, after returning from Unova I found my dad at home and said that he had a job offer here in Kalos"

Calem's eyes widened "You were at the Vertress Conference?"

"Of course, but I lost badly at the quarters against Trip, I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them" Answered Ash

"Wait a moment… you fought Trip? So you are him! The Ash Ketchum! The guy who was expected to win the conference, I almost didn't recognize you! Man, what happened to you?"

Shauna was confused at her boyfriend's apparent shock "You actually know him?"

"Know him? Come on Shauna you know that I love Pokémon battles, I'm one of his biggest fans! Although his battles at Vertress were… well, they could have been better" answered Calem.

Ash just scratched his cheek nervously "Yeah… I plan to go back in a few years and mend my mistakes, but for now I want to enter the Kalos League"

"No offense but if you said that he lost the league, what makes him so special for you to be his fan?" Asked Tierno.

"Well he might have lost the Vertress Conference, but he is the actual champion of the Valley of Lily conference" said Calem with a smirk.

"WHAT!?" Even Serena had joined her friends at this, so Ash was the Sinnoh League Champion.

"Yeah, I have the right to challenge the Elite four and the Champion for the title, but I'll wait, the Vertress Conference taught me that I have too much to learn" said Ash.

Tierno looked at Calem and asked "So… is he that good?"

Calem's eyes widened "You guys really don't know about battles uh? Ash here is called the 'Legend Slayer' by many, because he won the Valley of Lily conference by beating Tobias, a trainer with a team full of Legendary Pokémon. He is also the first to win the Kanto Battle Frontier, defeating Brandon's Regice with his Pikachu"

If Serena was shocked at first, now she was looking at her boyfriend in awe, he had become so strong, she might not have followed the Conference's battles but one didn't have to be a genius to know that Legendary Pokémon were stronger that any average Pokémon, so beating a full team of trained legends was amazing by itself.

Ash scratched his neck at his girlfriend's awed expression "Come on Serena, I'm not that impressive, after all I lost in the Vertress Conference"

Calem shook his head "You lost because you didn't use your veteran team, the people that has followed you is not that blind, everyone knew that if you had used your veteran team… or at least that monstrous Charizard of yours, you could have won without problems, even the Serperior you used in the Valley of Lily as a surprise factor could have been a great help"

Ash knew he was right, after all those two were pretty strong, not to mention that Serperior was an unusual Pokémon in the Sinnoh Region when he participated on the Valley Conference, he had caught it by chance after finding that she had been abandoned her old trainer, they had bonded and trusted each other and actually won the league, but he had been so keen in showing Trip a lesson in Unova that he just went head on to the battle without thinking about the disadvantage that this team had, as most of his team members were rather young.

"Yeah, I should have trained more with them, that was my fault"

Serena smiled sadly at him, she was glad to know that he made mistakes, not because she was glad that he had lost, but he was learning from them and moving on.

"You will do better this time, I'll be supporting you Ash" said the honey-blond girl smiling at him. This brought a smile to his lips and a small thank you.

After a few moments they took seats around the clearing and started asking Ash about his travels, he had told them about Kanto, all the way from Viridian to his loss in the Indigo Plateau. Serena at some point had decided to sit on her boyfriend's lap, she wasn't so thrilled at knowing that he had been so close to dying more than once through the whole Team Rocket and Mewtwo fiasco.

"I can't believe you just jumped in front of Mewtwo's and Mew's attacks like that, I'll have to pay special attention to you it seems" said a concerned Serena.

"Hey I was trying to save the world, besides, everything turned out just fine in the end" answered the experienced trainer.

While narrating his travels, Tierno could see more and more how Serena was falling even harder for Ash, the guy had saved the world many times without bragging about it or claiming any kind of recognition or compensation, Calem asked a lot of things, how did it feel to ride on Lugia's back, or about his Charizard fighting against Entei for the first time after it kidnapped his mother.

Ash answered his question while remembering everything, but never with a cocky attitude, and Serena blushed even more whenever he paused his story to make sure she was comfortable.

" _I guess I never really had a chance"_ thought Tierno.

As time went by, the group decided to head back to Ash's new house, after a few minutes they were walking on the main road, a few houses from their destiny. "Hey Ash? Don't you miss home?"

Ash looked at her and smiled while taking her hand and interlacing their fingers "I always missed home whenever I was in Kanto or any other region"

Serena tilted her head in confusion, and Ash just chuckled a bit at her expression "I could have been in my house with my family in Kanto, but…" Ash stopped walking and faced her completely "My home was always here with you, so I'm home now"

The girl blushed a new shade of red while she hugged him, burying her head in his chest to avoid being seen so flustered, but with a big and radiant smile nonetheless.

They continued walking and reached the new Ketchum residence, Ash opened the door and led the others into the living room "I'm back!"

Red, Delia and Grace walked from the kitchen "Welcome back you…" Delia started but after seeing Ash and Serena holding hands and being so close she started to yell "Kyaaaa! My big boy has a girlfriend now!"

Red covered his ears while grinning at his Son's flustered face "Congratulations you two, I thought it would take you longer, but I see you work fast Ash"

Ash just smiled nervously not used to this kind of behavior from his parents "Come on dad, you are embarrassing me" The others just laughed at this and proceeded to take seats on the living room.

The place was way bigger than their house in Pallet Town, you could see Mr. Mime going from right to left cleaning everything he could.

Grace saw her daughter's smile and couldn't contain her own, Serena noticed this and smiled even wider "You knew about this, right?"

The Ryhorn Racer nodded "Apparently Delia got my number after watching my last race in Kanto a few months ago, you know how the data from the racers are shown on the web page"

Delia interrupted with a big smile "When I saw Grace that day and got her direction here in Kalos, I asked Oak about this region, he told me that a good friend of his was a professor on Lumiose City, after contacting him he told me that he knew you personally, as Serena was on his list to receive a Pokémon a few years back."

Ash turned to Serena and asked "You were invited to choose a starter?"

"Yeah but… I had some problems at the time, I really didn't know what to do, I don't really like Ryhorn Racing…" said Serena a bit nervous, she didn't want Ash to think that she was scared of traveling.

The trainer just smiled softly "No problem, we can find your passion while traveling this region"

"Actually, I found something I want to do, but I haven't told anyone yet… I didn't want mom to be disappointed in me" Serena's face was filled with concern, but Grace just gave her a pat.

"I would never be disappointed in you nor the things you want to do so please tell me, what you would like to do?" asked Grace eager to know her daughter's dream.

Serena felt relieved by this and after looking through her purse she took a pamphlet "Sky Prix!" was the excited answer that came from her.

The Sky Prix was an event where trainers used their Flying Type Pokémon to race through a sky circuit, but there was more, the four first places would battle after the race with their chosen partner, the winner would be given then one of five wings: Bronze Wing, Silver Wing, Gold Wing, Crystal Wing and Diamond Wing.

These wings would give you access to the Grand Sky Prix, the most difficult race that took place all around Kalos, starting from Lumiose, passing by Camphrier town to Cyllage city, Geosenge town, Shallour City, and Coumarine city, after this came a dangerous pass through the desert, and a part of the swamp to finally reach Laverre City, passing by Dendemille town, Anistar City and Couriway Town where the final phase and the most dangerous part begins, Snowbelle city was a very cold place, trainers had to be very well prepared to traverse the mountains against the strong winds to reach the checkpoint on route 22, there were stories of racers being dropped from their mount and falling into the cold forest.

This phase was rather short but very difficult, if racers managed to get out of the mountains, the last part of this phase would be a straight line to Santalune City and then back to Lumiose.

The event was rather dangerous, but they had security measures to ensure the safety of the Sky Riders.

The difference between the Sky Prix and Grand Sky Prix was huge, while in the Sky Prix your Pokémon had to fly through the course at full speed, in the Grand Sky Prix the trainers had to ride their Flying Pokémon to actually compete, so it was a requisite to have at least three Pokémon that could carry their trainer.

A Sky Rider in the Grand Sky Prix could only switch Pokémon three times, so they had to use them wisely, this helped to prevent most of the unprepared trainer to reach the final phase, as most of their team, if not all of it, would be too tired to continue after reaching Anistar or Couriway City.

Among other things, it was a very huge event in Kalos, Kanto and Johto, but it was already on its way to expand to other regions.

Serena had watched a lot of races on TV, mostly when her mother was not around, she would often dream of being a Sky Rider, soaring through the sky with her Pokémon and looking for Ash while racing in Kanto.

"I thought you didn't have a dream yet, but I see I was mistaken and that makes me happy Serena" Grace said with a smile.

Serena gave her one of her own "So… you are not upset because I don't want to be a Ryhorn Racer?"

"Of course not! If you become a Sky rider then we will be known as the Royal Duo! You will reign in the skies and I'll reign over the land!" answered a very animated Grace, smiling even wider at the thought of both of them being famous on their own right.

Ash thought Serena's goal was impressive, he had flown with Charizard and Pidgeot sometimes and knew how hard it was to maintain balance, even for the Pokémon it was hard to travel long distances with someone riding on their backs.

"Then I guess both of us have a lot of training to do, right?" said Ash with grinning at his girlfriend.

Serena gave him a light nod but then burrowed her brows "But I have to meet Professor Sycamore, and I still have to choose my Pokémon partner… the problem is that none of them is a flying type, nor do they evolve into one"

Red then thought of something, he remembered hearing from Grace earlier that she had a Fletchling "Why don't you use Fletchling? I heard you had one, right?"

"Yes, I actually caught Fletchling sometime ago, but I don't know if Professor Sycamore will let me register him as my starter" answered the girl tilting her head.

"Well, I think it will be a good idea to ask, maybe you can talk to him about your dream, he might be able to help you, after all he is very knowledgeable and a pokedex is very useful for a lot of things even if you are not going to compete in the Pokémon League" said Red with a small smirk.

Ash then turned to his new friends "What about you guys?"

Calem smirked and crossed his arms "I'm gonna challenge the gyms, so we might end up being rivals, I know you are strong but I won't give up"

"That's the spirit!" answered Ash.

"I want to be a Performer and hopefully one day I might become the new Kalos Queen" Said Shauna with a prideful smile.

Tierno smiled and said that he wanted to have the best dancing Pokémon team ever, which made Ash to congratulate him, he had seen some Pokémon performing as dancers and it was pretty cool.

A few hours later the whole family had finished accommodating everything, Tierno, Shauna and Calem had left after helping the family and having dinner.

Grace approached her daughter with a smile "It's been a long time since I've seen you this happy"

Serena turned around and smiled at her mother hugging her tightly "I'm sorry for everything I said before mom, I was upset and…"

"Is okay, what happened is in the past, I made my mistakes and I hope you can forgive me…" said Grace while hugging her daughter.

Serena gave her a light nod and then backed away a bit "I can't believe he is back, is like a dream"

At that moment Ash entered the living room, he had gone with his father to call Professor Oak to arrange a few things about his Pokémon. Red had told Oak that he would be getting a transfer machine for his job and that he was hoping to be the one taking care of Ash's Pokémon from now on, the Professor was pleased to know this, as they were beginning to be a bit overwhelming for him, after all there were too many to take care and he just keep getting older.

So the Professor told Red that he would register him in the Pokémon Master League Data Base to take his Son's and his own Pokémon in, with the only restriction being that they would still just be able to take six of them on their pokeballs for travels at a time.

Ash had asked a favor from the Professor too, he wanted to keep the Tauros that he had used in the Orange League, and send bulletins through the other regions to trade the rest of them. He liked his Tauros, but Red had told him that by trading he would be able to cover a lot of ground in Pokémon types, besides, having twenty-nine more of the same Pokémon was not helping him at all at achieving his dream.

It was a painful truth, after all he had caught all of them by himself, but it was time to look at things objectively. Oak had been pleased to know that Ash wanted to trade his Tauros, a lot of trainers had shown interest in them before, not to mention that the ranch at the entrance of Pallet wanted to have a few to breed with their Miltanks.

Ash had gone back to the living room and noticed Serena and Grace talking when the later saw him and smiled "Ash would you come here?"

The young man walked there, nervous as to what would Grace want, after all she was his girlfriend's mother. "Yes Grace?"

The older woman smiled and hugged him "Please take care of my daughter, I know she might be a handful…

"HEY!"

"…But she loves you very much, you became her world so please, keep her safe" Grace had a few tears running down her face, but was still smiling.

Ash gave her a light nod and smiled "Don't worry Grace, I promise you that I'll take care of her and protect her with my life"

Serena approached Ash and hugged him tightly too after Grace released him "Then I'll be fine, because I'll never let anything bad happen to you"

A few moments later Grace told them that she was going back home to feed Ryhorn and prepare to take a bath.

Serena didn't want to go yet, she was about to say something when her mother interrupted them "You can stay, I trust that nothing will happen, I'm still too young to be a grandmother after all" she said in a teasing manner, making both of them blush.

"Mom!" a cherry-red Serena pursued her mother who was in her way out.

Ash just shook his head and smiled at his girlfriend… it seemed like it was the only thing he could do now, every time he thought of them being together a smile appeared on his lips, it was just natural.

He took her hand and lead her to the top of the stairs and into his room "Take the bed, I'll sleep in the floor"

"No way mister!" Serena hugged him and started walking, forcing him to step back until they reached the bed "I don't mind if you sleep with me… just sleep…" blushing furiously she sat on the bed signaling for him to do the same.

Ash was flustered too, it was the first time he was going to sleep with a girl in the same bed. Just as he was about to say something Delia opened the door and looked at them "Oh… I didn't know Serena was still here… play safe kids"

She then went out of the room with a slight blush covering her cheeks and a goofy smile while muttering 'grandsons and granddaughters'

Now Ash was even more nervous, he was about to suggest that he slept in the floor again when suddenly her giggles broke the silence, he smiled and started laughing too.

"That was so awkward." Serena calmed herself after a while, reaching for Ash's hand "I'm so happy right now… I don't want this to end"

She then released his hand before he could say anything and went to his wardrobe, taking out one of his shirts, she then turned around and winked at him, walking to the private bathroom in Ash's room.

After a few moments she came back wearing his shirt, it was a little big for her as it was long enough to almost reach her knees, sometimes being short had it perks, Ash had grown noticeable taller than her, reaching the 5 '82'' against her 4'98'' and a lot bulkier, probably a result of all his travels through different regions.

Ash swallowed hard at seeing his girlfriend wear his shirt to sleep, it gave him a weird feeling. He quickly took a change of clothes from his wardrobe too and went to the bathroom trying to conceal his blush but failing miserably.

Serena couldn't help but laugh at her boyfriend's antics, it was good to know that she could get that kind of reaction of him, it means he thought she was pretty.

After Ash walked out of the bathroom wearing a clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts Serena came to him and took his hand, leading him into bed, making him lay down with her, Ash was so nervous and it only made Serena giggle every time she looked at his face.

"Damn… I forgot the lights"

Ash was about to get up to turn off the lights when Pikachu, who had been in the room the whole time, beat him to it and went back to his new and comfortable pillow.

"Hey Ash… will I get a goodnight kiss?" asked Serena with a teasing voice, knowing very well that he was trying hard to keep his cool.

Ash relaxed a bit and decided to get payback, he embraced Serena, holding her close to his chest and kissed her forehead and then her lips in a tender way.

Serena was surprised at first but then responded the kiss, letting a smile content sigh, breaking it after a few moments "Goodnight Ash… sweet dreams"

"You too Serena, I love you"

"Love you too"

And with that, both of them closed their eyes to sleep.

* * *

 **And there you have it guys, I hope you liked this chapter, I know I enjoyed it.**

 **As all of you can see, Serena's goal is quite different, it will be hard to get her started but I didn't want to go with performances, but instead follow the Pokémon Adventure route where she is a Sky Battler.**

 **Next chapter will have a little bit more of the Ketchum family and our heroes might meet some old/new friends.**

 **Spoiler Alert!**

 **Also, I think I said this already but Ash and Serena are already 17, and Serena used to live in Kanto since she was four, but only meet Ash when she was 7 in the camp, and they were best friends for almost two years, this will be explained in more detail as the story goes.**

 **Please let me know your thoughts about this chapter in the commentary box below.**

 **See you all in the next chapter!**


	3. Getting Ready - Hard Decisions

**Hey everyone!**

 **I'm glad to see that so many of you has taken a liking to this story of mine.**

 **Anyway, let's get down to business.**

 **1\. - Paul won't be appearing in the story at all.**

 **2\. – I can't believe you guys actually got it your way… Chapter 80 made me realize that Braixen is really cute and can actually fight pretty well… although I didn't want to, some changes will be made.**

 **3\. - I'm actually having problems figuring out which Pokémon I should let Ash have, they won't appear right at the beginning so that gives me a bit of time to actually think about it.**

 **4\. – I think I already said this, but I don't like fluffy things… I get icky. Still there might be some fluffy moments, very icky and fluffy moments, why? I don't really know but I feel like there should be at least some cute moments for them, not in every chapter, but once in a while is cool I guess.**

 **5\. – This won't be a three-some story, I know I have one in Spanish but this is not the case, Dawn is like a little sister to Ash and it will be shown as the story progress.**

 **6\. – Torterra will appear in this story, he is one of Ash's strongest Pokémon after all, so yay Turtwig in Kalos, but you will have to wait to see him in action.**

 **Innuendos are a blessing for human language *smirks***

 **Anyway I really hope you like this chapter, and thank you all for your support.**

* * *

Getting Ready – Hard Decisions.

It had been almost a week since the Ketchum family moved to Vaniville Town, by now the family was almost settled and the neighbors had received them very well.

Ash had taken the time to get to know the town before heading out to his new adventure with Serena along the region, and apparently some of the guys were jealous of him for taking the honey-blond girl out of the market.

Shauna had brought to his attention that Serena had got a sort of fan club, and to this day their members actually idolized her, but he didn't care, after all she was his and he was hers, no one would take her away and she had made that awfully clear after the third day, when some of them tried to intimidate Ash.

 **Flashback:**

" _Alright new boy, I don't know who you think you are or why you deserve our lovely princess, but we are going to teach you to…" The bully was suddenly and utterly interrupted by a punch directly at the face._

 _Nobody had seen Calem approach the group and they certainly weren't prepared for what came next._

 _Serena had arrived on Ryhorn making her way through the mob that had surrounded Ash "What the hell is wrong with you people!? I'm free to choose whoever I want to love, and I choose Ash a long time ago!"_

 _Normally Serena wouldn't be enough to scare them, sure she could be pretty scary when she was angry, but they were more aware of the Ryhorn and Calem._

 _Ash took a step forward, somewhat annoyed at his new friends for making him seem like he needed help, as if! He had helped take down Team Rocket; a bunch of kids wouldn't be a problem._

" _You know I can fight my own battles right, Serena?"_

 _The girl turned around and smiled at him "I know, but I didn't want to drag you into this mess, after all it is my fault that they believe to have this kind of authority, I never did anything to stop them before"_

 _Ash just shook his head and cracked his knuckles "I don't mind… I would fight to hell and back for you if I had to"_

 _Calem mimicked his friend's actions "And I wouldn't let you to have all the fun to yourself… these guys mess with my friends then I'll mess with their faces"_

 **End Flashback:**

At the end of the day the town heard of what happened and word spread that if anyone had problems with him being Serena's boyfriend then he would gladly fight for her.

Along the week Red had received the transfer machine and they had prepared everything for Ash's Pokémon arrival, not to mention that Red would have his Pokémons with him too while some others would stay at the 'backyard' as Delia had put it.

The house they had gotten was actually a very big and expensive one, that was the reason it had been vacant for a long time, and the property reached to the woods, so it would give them more than enough space to let the Pokémon roam free without bothering others.

It was around 8 am and the Ketchum's were already waking up, Ash being a heavy sleeper as always.

"Anthony could you please wake Ash? He is going to be late for Serena's appointment if you two want to take care of the transfers today"

Two days ago they had called Sycamore and told them that Serena wanted to start her journey, this made the young professor jump in joy knowing that he would have another Dex-Holder of his own, although he was slightly disappointed when Serena told him that she wanted to be a Sky Rider and that sadly none of the Pokémon there could evolve into a flying type.

The professor explained Serena that he still wanted her to have one Pokémon, a little Fennekin that wasn't chosen by the previous new trainers, at first she wasn't sure if it was correct for her to take a Pokémon that might not have so much training or participate in any event, but Sycamore had been persistent, assuring her that this Fennekin was special and that it would be a good company and training partner none the less, so after Ash and Sycamore talked her a little bit into accepting, she gave up and accepted to take it.

They had to meet Sophie, Sycamore's assistant in Santalune City at 2pm, but they had to transfer Ash's Pokémon and that left them with little time as it would take almost all morning setting everything up, Red stood up and went to his son's room, knocking a few times "Ash is time to get up! You know that your mom won't let me eat until you are with us!"

Inside the room the Pokémon trainer was slowly opening his eyes "Coming dad…" he was still half sleep, but a nice fragrance invaded his senses.

Fixing his gaze to the bundle of sheets resting in his chest he couldn´t help but smile "Come on sleepy head, is time to wake up" said the trainer removing the covers and exposing Serena to the Sun, making her frown for the bothersome light awakening her from her pleasant dreams and bury her face on his neck.

A slight chuckle from Ash made her aware that it was already time to get up, but she refused to let go of the warm from laying along her lover "Five more minutes Ashy… stay with me…"

The cute pout on her face almost convinced him of staying there five more minutes, but his father would grow relentless and come back in less than three if they didn't get up, so he recurred to his main weapon.

Kissing her lips softly he felt her smile and kiss back, letting a content sigh escape her lips, after a few moments they broke the kiss with the honey-blonde girl opening her eyes "Not fair…" said the girl with a lazy tone.

"You know how my dad behaves with his food, if I don't get up he will come back…" A knock in the door interrupted him and a second after it opened.

"Ash get down now! And bring Serena, your mother made more than enough… do you really think it is a secret that you two have been jumping from one balcony to another?" His face showed annoyance, not because Ash was sneaking a girl inside his room, but he was a hungry man and you couldn't keep him away from food for so long.

"Alright already, we are coming down… just let us get dressed"

"Like hell! Come down NOW!"

The two of them ran out of the room, Ash wearing a boxer and a black shirt, and Serena wearing shorts and one of Ash's shirts, she had taken a liking to wearing his clothes while sleeping.

"Good morning Ash and you too Serena" said Delia with a smile taking a seat, seemingly unsurprised.

"Morning mom" answered Ash with half a smile and very embarrassed while thinking of a good excuse for having Serena so early in the morning inside his room.

Serena fidgeted a little "Good morning… a-and I'm sorry for intruding in your home so early in the morning Delia…"

"Intruding? What are you talking about dear? We already knew you two slept together, just do not rush things ok? I want grandsons and granddaughters but is too soon for you guys to do 'that'" answered the woman with an impish look "And please just call me mom"

This made the girl blush intensely so she opted to just sit down and start breakfast with the Ketchum family.

A few moments later there was a knock on the door, Delia got up and rushed to the door, opening it and letting Grace in "Good morning Delia"

"Morning Grace! Come to the kitchen, we are already starting breakfast" The two women walked into the kitchen, were Serena tried to hide behind Ash and failing miserably.

"Oh come on Serena, is that the way you greet your mother in the mornings?" asked Grace with a sly grin.

"Morning mom… I can explain…"

"That you sleep in Ash's room? I knew that already, heck I think everyone has seen you jump from one balcony to another"

Red snorted "Told you"

"Since when did you know?" asked Ash to the adults.

"Since day one… oh Arceus you really think we didn't hear the noise you both make while going to the other's room? And Serena tends to giggle a lot while you two are making out… or I want to think that is what you do" answered Red with a smirk at his son's embarrassment

This only made the teens blush, they had been discovered and no one has told them anything.

"Oh come on Serena, I know I wasn't a good example while you grew up, but even I know that you wouldn't do 'that' yet"

At hearing her mom Serena's face relaxed a bit and eventually a smile appeared in her face.

"… at least not without protection" finished Grace enjoying how a full shade of red covered her daughter's face.

"Mom! We are too young to… to…" Serena couldn't even finish the sentence properly she was way too embarrassed and nervous "Say something Ash!"

"Why? You seem to be doing fine without me, and I'm enjoying your reactions" answered the boy while taking another sip to his juice trying to look calm, even when his blush showed the exact opposite "Come on Serena, you know they are trying to tease us, you are giving them what they want"

Delia scowled at her son "Don't you dare to ruin our fun, I swear sometimes you are just too much like your father"

After a few moments everyone settled down and continued enjoying breakfast as Grace joined them.

"After this we are going to transfer your Pokémon, Ash" Red told his son after taking a sip of juice.

Ash just answered with a slight nod and continued eating, what surprised Red and Delia was that his manners had improved a lot.

"Well Serena I have to thank you for making Ash more civilized while eating"

The girl looked at Delia and smiled "I don't think I did that much, mom"

This caught Grace's attention, who just gave her daughter a sly look "Hoho~ so is 'mom' now… Well Ash you can start calling me mom too then"

Ash nearly choke at this, he gasped for air and then looked at Grace with a very intense blush on his face "W-Well I… you know… I… eh…guess mom"

Serena's face turned a dark shade of red again but had a little smile, it was incredible how their families were so accepting, like they never moved out of Kanto and had grown together all those years, they teased each other as if nothing had ever changed and that made her believe even more than those years she spent away from Ash were just a nightmare.

After the breakfast Ash followed his dad to the transfer machine to get started, he had told Serena that they would take a while and that she could go with him or simply wait until they finished. The girl shook her head and assured him that she would come back after taking a bath, and maybe by then he would be done.

She was excited to meet Ash's Pokémon, even more after Calem had told them that they were strong enough to take on a team of legendary Pokémon.

While the girl walked back to her house, Delia came to the room they had designated for the Transfer Machine.

"I think I owe you an explanation about my name" started the mother with a nervous tone.

Red put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and a slight nod "Is ok honey, he needs to know"

Delia gave a slight nod "When your father and I were fifteen we fought a bad man named Giovani Sakaki, leader of the Team Rocket gang… we managed to defeat him but he promised to Red that he would get revenge on us"

Ash looked at his parents with evident surprise, he wanted to say something but Delia continued her story.

"… We thought that he was just bluffing at the time, and never heard anything from him or Team Rocket in a long time, until about the time we both married"

Red looked at his son "The reason I spent so many time away from you guys was because I had to investigate if Giovani had come back again, but I never found anything."

Delia hugged her son tightly "When you were born and we heard about Team Rocket coming back, I changed my name to Delia Y Ketchum and changed my hair color"

Red chuckled a bit "There was actually a chance of you being born with blond hair, you know? I can't actually picture you going around with blond hair"

Ash joined their laughs "It would have been fun, can you picture me yelling around 'I'm going to be a Pokémon Master, believe it!' while striking a pose? Hahaha"

After a few moments the family relaxed and Ash decided it was time to let their past rest "You don't need to worry about Giovani anymore mom"

"Why is that?" asked Red curious as to why his son would believe they were safe from the man.

"While I was traveling around Unova he tried to control Reshiram and Zekrom, there was a big fight trying to free both Pokémon but in the end we won… but…" Ash was trying to finish the story but Red interrupted.

"That doesn't mean that he can't come back"

"Yes it does… While trying to release Zekrom it used a Fusion Bolt… Giovanni was too close…" Remembering Giovanni's lifeless body made him shiver "…He is dead mom"

The parents understood that their son had seen a man die in front of him, even if said man deserved it, the event might have been a little too much for the young trainer.

Delia let a slight sigh escape her lips "Well… at least I can use my name again on public" The family shared a big hug and then father and son continued working, no more words were needed, the topic was closed.

A few hours later.

They had finished the transference of Ash's Pokémon, everybody was happy to see their trainer again. Bayleaf tackled her trainer to the ground while rubbing her face into his.

It was at this time that Serena arrived with a small basket in hands "Ash?"

The trainer got up and looked at his girlfriend "Hey Serena come here! You will love to meet everyone" He looked back at his Pokémon "Hey guys! Come here and say hi!"

Ash's Pokémon reunited in front of their trainer and greeted the girl, she approached them one by one, petting them and making comments on how great looking and strong each of them were and giving them a macaroon as a sign of friendship.

Bayleaf at first was not eager to meet her knowing that this human was her trainer's mate, but Pikachu told her how much she meant to the aspiring Pokémon Master so she decided to give the girl a break and try to befriend her. Or at least that was the plan but after eating the sweet treat all bad thoughts dispersed and she already liked the honey-blonde haired trainer-to-be.

Charizard had managed to scare her a little, it was monstrous and gave off an aura of power and strength like she had never seen before, not even the veteran Ryhorns had scared her like this.

The Fire Type scratched its cheek nervously, it wasn't his intention to scare Ash's mate like that, so he tried to take a page of Bayleaf and nuzzled her cheek with his. For the girl it was a new experience, Ash encouraged her to pat him a little, she then learned that Charizard was just scary to his opponents but otherwise he was a big softy.

While Serena finished giving everyone their treats, Charizard seemed to be contemplating something important, the girl seemed to be very nice and caring, something he definitely liked in a trainer as he had learned with Ash that those were important aspects for a growing Pokémon, and just like Ash she seemed honest with Pokémon and Humans on an equal level, so after pondering for a bit he seemed to have reached an important decision.

Serena enjoyed meeting each and every one and even more pleased to get to know the Flying Type Pokémon like Charizard, Swellow, Noctowl who, Ash explained, was a shiny Pokémon, Staraptor, Unfezant and Gliscor, she was almost done when Red came to the backyard and handed his son four pokéball.

"Ash! Oak sent me your last Pokémon a few moments ago, he also told me that you would meet the new three Pokémon that were changed for three of your Tauros just yesterday" informed the Kanto Champion.

The young trainer released the first three to meet the new members of the team, it turned out they were a male Nidoran, an Aron and lastly a Ghastly, but Red noted the odd bluish patterns on its aura instead of the purple ones "Hey son, I think this is a shiny Ghastly" The trainer got on his knees to greet them.

"Hey guys, from now on I'll be your trainer and friend, I hope we can get along…" Thinking over a moment he then looked at Aron and Nidoran "…you guys will train under Donphan, Charizard and Garchomp on your resistance and physical power while Ghastly trains under Sceptile, and Serperior on his speed and special attacks "

Ash smiled and turned to his girlfriend "Hey Serena, you want to be a Sky Rider right? How about I show you my first Flying Type Pokémon?" The girl gave him a slight nod, confused at his apparent eagerness "Then I would like to present you my third Pokémon, I caught this guy on the first weeks of my travel"

Now she was excited, she heard from his bedtime stories that this was, along with Charizard, one of his strongest Pokémon!

"Ok buddy I chose you!" He threw the pokéball high and from it came a large bird-like Pokémon.

"Ash your Pidgeot is huge! Is so beautiful!" it was the biggest Pidgeot he had seen, even bigger than the ones used by the Sky Riders in the Grand Prix.

Pidgeot appreciated the praise and let the girl pet him.

Red appreciated his son's Pokémon and gave a light nod in agreement "You did a good job raising him, son"

The boy just chuckled and shook his head "I didn't do much, he trained most a lot on his own while protecting his flock, isn't that right buddy?"

Pidgeot was not impressed at his trainer's humility, he had actually trained him when he was a Pidgeotto, and evolved into a strong Pidgeot thanks to him… to him all his achievements were thanks to Ash's training and care.

"By the way Pidgeot, I want you to help Ghastly too, once he is fast enough I need you to teach him to dodge while losing as little speed as he can" Pidgeot gave his trainer a slight nod.

The new members were eager to get started and train with the powerful-looking Pokémon, if they could grow this strong then they were more than willing to go through any training.

Serena remembered that she had to meet with Sycamore's assistant "Ash, we will be late if we don't go now!"

Ash just let gave the girl a smile "Don't worry about it, I told Calem and the others to go ahead first an hour ago, they wanted to be there early and I assured them that we would be on time"

Pikachu went to the Staraptor and the others and told them his little plan to make Ash travel with Serena alone with Pidgeot, they all nodded and scattered leaving their trained shocked at this.

Ash's plan was to let Serena ride Pidgeot while he used Charizard to follow them, but everything went to the dumpster as his only Flying Pokémon now was the majestic bird.

"Damn it Pikachu you ruined my plans"

Pikachu smiled at his trainer and went to his shoulder "Pika~" oh it sounded like he didn't care at all.

Pidgeot lowered himself enough to let his trainer mount him, Ash extended a hand to Serena inviting her to ride with him "Come on my future Sky Master, you will need to learn how to ride a Flying Pokémon later or sooner"

She seemed a bit hesitant, Pidgeot saw this and decided to help his trainer by taking the girl with his beak from the collar of her shit, and putting her right in front of Ash "W-Wait! I-I'm not ready!"

Ash laughed at this and put his arms around her waist "Come on Serena, you will like it!" Pidgeot took into the skies while Serena tried to calm her nerves.

After a few moments she started getting over her initial fear and appreciated the view and the feeling of flying free through the skies "Is just like my dream…" she whispered softly, remembering the times when she would dream of her and Ash being exactly like this.

Ash looked at her as she got into a more comfortable position, resting her back on his chest while letting him embrace her, nuzzling her head in his neck and enjoying his warmth with her eyes closed. He closed the gap between them and kissed her in the lips, a soft and tender kiss that she gladly returned while using one hand to caress his cheek.

Meanwhile in the Ketchum Residence.

Red was about to go into the house to prepare the food for all the Pokémon when he saw his son's Charizard come over to him, using his aura powers he established a link between them to understand what he tried to tell him.

"I see… If you are sure this is what you want to do then I'll help you, I'll call Oak for you so that we can get everything we need" said Red at Charizard's request.

The Fire Type gave him a grateful look and then went back to the others to start the newbies training and wait for Red.

He knew his decision would upset his mate, she could be headstrong when she wanted to be, but he knew that this was for the best and that Charla would understand.

With Ash and Serena.

Pidgeot landed on the entrance of the city, allowing its two passengers down. Ash got down first, and extended his arms.

Serena saw this and jumped straight into his arms, giggling at his silly antics when he crouched and let her down, the girl reached up and gave her boyfriend a chaste kiss.

"Thank you for everything Pidgeot, I hope you can allow me to train a bit more while we enjoy our journey" said Serena giving the Pokémon a small bow.

Pidgeot really liked this girl, she was well mannered "Pidgeoot!" it gave an affirmative cry and nod before Ash returned him back to his pokéball.

Pikachu came out of Ash's backpack and rested on his shoulder, it really liked to sleep there while traveling with Pidgeot, and he knew Ash and Serena would get all mushy so he really didn't want to be outside while both of them kissed, it was awkward enough when they were going to sleep.

Both of them approached the cafe they were supposed to meet everyone else, Shauna spotted both of them "Hey guys, took your sweet time"

Serena gave her a slight grin "We just left five minutes ago from Ash's house"

"Impossible Serena, there is no way you could make it here in such a short time" answered an incredulous Shauna, Calem was also amused at Serena's words.

"Yeah well, we came on Ash's Pidgeot, is the biggest, fastest and most beautiful bird Pokémon you will ever see"

Calem tried to recall Ash's battles "Wait… I can't remember any Pidgeot in your team"

The experienced trainer chuckled at this "Well Pidgeot was actually the third Pokémon I caught in Kanto" He then proceeded to release him.

The people present couldn't believe their eyes, in front of them was one of the most amazing Pidgeot they had ever seen.

Calem was the first to recover "I can't believe it… this Pidgeot looks almost as powerful as your Charizard"

"Well Charizard is actually a lot more powerful than before, he has been training the hardest but I can assure you that Pidgeot can give him a run for his money" answered Ash, taking notice of the people reunited with them.

There was Tierno who was amazed by Pidgeot's appearance, then there was Trevor, a shy guy whose dream was to fill the pokedex with all known Pokémon, and Sophie, Sycamore's assistant.

Returning his Pidgeot to his pokéball, they started to talk about their plans, even deciding Ash's nickname for the group.

Calem had been adamant on it being 'Legend Slayer' as it was what a lot of people called him in Sinnoh and other regions.

Shauna thought that it was too flashy, so she decided to just call him 'Veteran' as he was the one who knew more about Pokémon, even more than Trevor and Calem together.

Sophie then decided that it was time to deliver everyone their Pokémon "Alright guys here are all the Pokémon that Professor Sycamore gave me for you"

She released them, revealing a Fennekin, Chespin, Froakie, and Squirtle. Calem decided to partner with Froakie, Shauna had chosen Fennekin as her starter, Trevor decided to take Chespin while Tierno and Squirtle were dancing around, already liking each other.

Sophie then turned to Serena and gave her a Pokéball, the others were curious as to what was within the device as they didn't know about Serena's deal with Sycamore.

"Come out Fennekin!" The little fox came out and stared at her new trainer with a calculating look.

Serena got on her knees and stared back with a smile "Hey there Fennekin, my name is Serena, and I would be honored if you came with me in my journeys"

The truth was that Fennekin didn't want to fight on gym battles, she was eager to train and get stronger, but full scale gym battles were more vicious and she was way too vain for them.

Sophie explained this and Serena gave the little fox a smile "Don't worry Fennekin, actually I won't be going for gyms either, my dream is to become a Sky Rider and fly through the sky in competition for the title of Sky Master, but I still need a good training partner… wouldn't you like to fly with me?"

Fennekin seemed to like the idea even more, flying would certainly mess her fur, but it was something that her trainer could help her with, unlike those intense battles that made her lose fur or actually hurt.

The little fox jumped around in joy and into Serena's arms, it finally had a trainer that could be patient with her, and who knows, maybe in the future she would find something to pass time.

Sophie delivered each one their respective pokedex and proceeded to show them how to use it, after a few hours the assistant went back to the lab in Lumiose City, Shauna decided to go tell her mom so she and Calem along with Tierno and Trevor went to the bus stop.

"Well guys, see you in Vaniville!~" said Serena in singing tone taking a hold of Ash's hand and dragging him to the other side.

Shauna made a small pout "Not fair! You get to fly with your boyfriend in his amazing Pokémon!" She turned to Calem and glared slightly at him "You better catch a good flying Pokémon you hear me!"

"Yes ma'am!" saluted the poor boy with sweat drops coming down his neck.

Ash just laughed at his friend's misfortune and went to Pidgeot, riding on him with Serena in front, in the exact same position they had arrived, this just made Shauna even more annoyed as she watched them fly away.

"You know, if a few weeks ago you had come to my house and told me that Serena would actually be starting her journey and getting a boyfriend of her own… I would have called you crazy" said the brown haired girl to her boyfriend while getting on the bus.

Calem just laughed at this "Yeah I guess you are right, who would have thought that they would find each other like this… you might think that in another world they would still find each other but he would be oblivious to her advances… or that I wouldn't even exist... kidding, I must be the coolest guy all across the multiverse."

While Shauna laughed at her boyfriend's theories of how he would save the world in others universes, Tierno was still annoyed at the fact that Serena had chosen Ash, it would take time for him to accept it and let go, but for now, he would respect her decision and be there for her like a friend.

Unaware to them, a Pokémon had watched the display of power by the Flying type, it was the kind of training he wanted, scratch that he needed it to make his dreams come true, he would look for this trainer and challenge him for a battle, and if the boy managed to defeat him, then he would ask him to let him join his group.

After a few minutes Ash and Serena reached the Ketchum Residence and went inside, finding Grace and Delia talking in the living room while Red ended a call on the phone, holding a Cherish Ball, one of the most expensive types of pokéballs in the market, this caught Ash's attention but he decided to wait until his father said anything to them about it.

"Hey mom! And mom… that is weird… and hello dad!" greeted Serena taking Red by surprise, Delia had told her to call her mom, but he wasn't expecting her to call him dad.

Grace just laughed at Anthony's face "How did it go?"

"Everything went fine, I have my new starter and my pokedex, and that means that I'm ready to start my journey anytime." Said Serena releasing Fennekin.

The fox Pokémon looked around, taking in the new faces in front of her, she turned back to her trained and barked happily "Fennekin, this here is my mom, and that is Ash's mom whom I call mom too… I'll explain later… and this is Anthony, he is Ash's father"

The little fire-type looked at each one of them and barked again, letting them know that she recognized them as special people to her trainer.

Grace smiled at the eagerness on her daughter's face, she could see just how happy she was right now, it made the feelings of guilt come back again, but she pushed them out of her mind. " _That is in the past, what matters now is that she is happy"_

"By the way dad, I never bothered asking you about this job of yours…"

Red looked at his son and gave him a grin "Well a few weeks ago I received a call from Scott, he told me that there was a plan in motion to expand the battle frontier to other regions, but he wanted to make something bigger"

Ash tilted his head in confusion, what would make a battle frontier even more amazing?

"The Battle Frontier has already expanded to Johto and Sinnoh, and he wants to make his way into Kalos too, but I came here for the next step on Battle Frontier and is called 'Battle World Frontier'" Red's voice showed a lot of excitement, Serena could easily see how this man was related to her Ash.

"¿What is the Battle World Frontier dad?" Asked the young trainer with the same amount of excitement.

Red gave him a smirk "Is like the normal Battle Frontier, but this time there is only one facility per region, and to battle a region's World Brain you have to defeat all normal Battle Frontiers there, another big difference is that the World Brains are actual regional champions"

"¿Wow that is so cool! But that you are Kanto's champion, why did we come to Kalos?"

"When Scott offered Diantha the position as a Brain she declined because she was already a Performer and Actress too, so she had almost no time for her to attend the facilities, after I talked to Scott we reached an agreement, I would come to Kalos and be the World Brain in this region while Green is the Brain Frontier for Kanto, he used to be the regional champ after all… if only for thirty minutes" explained Red saying the last part with a mocking tone.

"¿What about your duties in Kanto?" asked Ash, he didn't want to think that his father would neglect his position.

"Oh don't worry about that, now that I know that… well you know…" Red hinted about Team Rocket's leader death "… I don't have reasons to be with the G men anymore, so I'll just go back with Alakazam using Teleport to the Champion station and then back, it will be faster and I already tested it with him, it leaves him completely exhausted but it is a good training method"

"I see…" Ash then noticed the Cherish ball on the table. "…What about that?"

Red took the ball while standing up and walking to the backyard "Everyone follow me"

Once outside they saw Ash's and Red's Pokémon getting along and playing around or training, Pikachu and Pika came over to their trainers and went to their shoulders, Fennekin saw this and jumped to Serena's shoulder too, at first it was hard for her to climb over her trainer's clothes and stay in place, but after a few moments she found a nice position to stay comfortable.

"I have the feeling that you won't be walking much in our journeys huh?" asked Serena while petting her new Pokémon whom just barked happily at the attention.

Charizard saw the group and knew that the time had come…

* * *

 **I'm done with this chapter, I actually wanted to keep writing but… meh… this is just fine.**

 **Also I noticed some major problems with my story, it doesn't affect it right now, but I have to start fixing it soon.**

 **Yes, I killed Giovanni!**

 **Ash's first Pokémon just arrived, I will be rotating them on his team for each gym battle, but most of the training will be done before challenging for the badge or at home with specific instructions and help from the older Pokémon.**

 **Green is the boy, like in the manga while Blue is a girl, those two are married by the way.**

 **Finally I think Fennekin's place on the team is more like a riding partner for now, but I'll have a few surprises for her later.**

 **I feel kind of sad for Pikachu being single… *wink wink***


	4. Crossroads

**Hey there everyone!  
It's been a long week but I'm back with more of this story, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so far.**

 **Now I want to clear a few things before we begin.**

 **1\. - Giovanni being dead doesn't mean that there won't be Team Rocket… enough spoiler.**

 **2\. - Sycamore is not Serena's father.**

 **3\. - This one is important: Every story has an objective to reach, and something to teach, at least that is what I believe. I've seen enough stories about Ash and Serena starting a relationship after being together for a while, and a few less of those stories shows the couple facing big problems. This story is different because I want to target the problems that a couple would face when entering a hasty relationship, I've seen people enter a relationship as fast as I change my underwear, and damn some of them never last… I want Serena's and Ash relationship to last, but there will be problems for them, they have to learn a lot of things of each other… but I digress.**

 **4\. – Final point! Whenever you see ("Is the Pokémon that are talking") and humans won't understand unless Red translate for them as he has Aura powers, those will be explained in the future and yes, I'm planning on working on Ash's aura powers too.**

 **Also there is a reason why Ash is still the actual champion of the Sinnoh League and why there wasn't another during his time in Unova.**

 **I promise I won't fill the teams with shiny Pokémon, but there is one more that I want to bring.**

 **Things are just beginning and I really hope you enjoy it.**

 **Cookies!**

* * *

Crossroads.

Red held the Cherish Ball in hand and motioned Ash's Charizard to stand next to him.

"Ash, your Charizard went through hell and back to bring this special Pokémon here from Charizific Valley, Charla was against it at the beginning but after talking to Charizard she warmed to the idea".

While everyone else was confused at Red's words, Ash looked at his Charizard and then understood what his father was talking about, his fire type had been a father of a very rare Charmander for almost a year now, his scales were of a lighter color than others, but what caught his attention was that this Charmander knew some powerful moves, like Dragon Pulse and Ancient Power.

He had meet the little one once, Liza had told him that Charla wanted him to be his trainer but he had Charizard already.

"Charizard here told Charla that his new trainer would be your mate, and that she was strong willed and honest, at least those were his first impressions"

Charizard gave them a slight nod while Red stepped forward, handing the Cherish Ball to Serena.

"I hope you understand what a great honor it is to have one of the Charmander born in the Charizific Valley… and even a greater honor to have the son of the strongest Charizard of the Valley" told the Kanto Champion to the new trainer.

Serena looked at the ball with evident shock and turned to Charizard "Are you sure about this? I mean, you just meet me a few hours ago"

( **"That's true… but you being my trainer's mate gave me the excuse to let my son have a chance at travelling the world… Still I expect you treat him with great care and respect, and he will do the same to you"** ) Charizard's words were translated by Red who used his Aura to understand him.

Ash put a reassuring hand on her shoulders and smiled at her "I know you can do it, and I guess his only real opportunity to see the world is you, as Charla won't have him traveling with someone she doesn't trust"

Serena thought about it for a moment, her dream was to become a Sky Rider, but having Pokémon that couldn't fly wouldn't really help her in the beginning… still, Charizards were known to be powerful and fast in the sky, they would need to train hard to get Charmander evolve, but it shouldn't be a problem if Ash was there to help.

Charizard then saw her face change from a doubtful to a determined one, definitely this girl had spirit.

"I'll do it Charizard, I'll show you that I can make him into a powerful Charizard" Promised the girl to the Fire type, earning a thumbs up.

(" **And you won't be doing it alone, I'll help along with my trainer to make sure that no one will be as fast and powerful as him… well except for his old man** ") Red translated Charizard words to them once again, earning a grateful smile from the girl and Ash.

"Well then I think is time to meet your new Pokémon Serena" Red gave her the Cherish Ball, she took it and gave a slight nod.

Turning around she threw the ball letting the little Charmander out for the first time. The Charmander looked around spotting his father and Ash along his family, and two humans he didn't know.

( **"Hey Dad! Who are those two?"** ) Asked Charmander pointing to the two human females.

( **"The one standing close to Ash is his mate, her name is Serena and she will be your new trainer, I expect you to show respect and care as she will do the same, understood?"** ) Charizard told the little one.

Charmander's eyes widened with excitement, he had always wanted to travel around the world, but his mother wouldn't let him after she learned of his father's past.

( **"What about mom? Was she ok with this?"** )

( **"Of course not… but she will trust the girl as she is my trainer's mate, and besides I like her fiery spirit"** )

Serena approached Charmander "Hello there Charmander my name is Serena, I hope you and I can be good friends and partners" she extended her hand to the little fire type whom put both paws on her open hand and smiled.

Ash was happy for Charmander and his girlfriend, it was always good to have a new friend, and this certainly would help Serena to grow as a trainer seeing as how she would have to battle on the Sky Prix.

"So… why the Cherish ball? Liza could have used a normal Poke Ball or even a Great Ball" asked the young trainer.

Red chuckled a little and answered "It was part of Charla's demands, apparently she wouldn't let her little boy travel in anything less than the best, it was this or a luxury ball, but Liza didn't have one so she used one of the special Cherish Balls"

"I see, well it doesn't really matter" He turned to his girlfriend "I have to make a quick call, then we will pack everything to leave tomorrow morning with everyone else"

"Ok!" answered the honey-blond girl while playing with Charmander.

Once inside Ash used dialed someone he hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Hello? Brock Harrison speaking"

"Hey there Brock, long time no see you!"

"Ash!? How have you been? It has been so long since the last time I saw you… since parting ways in Sinnoh"

"Yeah, actually I'm talking to you from my new house in the Kalos region…"

"That is too far away from here, why didn't you tell us before? Misty, Tracey, Max, May and Dawn would have liked to know you were moving away"

Ash scratched his cheek nervously "Well I was a bit busy at the time, everything happened so fast… anyway I wanted to know your status as a Pokémon Doctor"

"I graduated almost six months ago, I love being a doctor but… sometimes I miss being on the move, the job in the Pokémon Center is good but I don't get to help as much as I would like to… and my paycheck is a bit… well, let us not talk about sad things"

"How about becoming a private doctor then?"

"Wow Ash… that is almost impossible for me, the Medical Association won't recognize a private Doctor unless he is working with someone of very good standing, even some veterans have trouble trying to get recommendations to work for famous trainers"

"And that is where I come into play my old friend, how you would like to work for the champion of the Sinnoh League and the daughter of the great Ryhorn Racer Grace Yvone? Not to mention the son of the Kanto Champion".

"I know you are the Sinnoh league champion, and that is good enough… but how do you know that Grace's daughter would hire me? And the Kanto Champion Red? I can't lie to the Association Ash" said Brock with concern but with a hidden excitement too.

Ash just gave him a knowing smirk "You won't lie to them Brock, I know Grace Yvone as she is my neighbor… and let's just say that her daughter won't have a problem with it, and as for Red Ketchum's request… I'm already making it"

"Red Ketchum's… YOU ARE THE SON OF THE CHAMPION IN THE KANTO REGION!?" Brock's yell had alerted Red, who went inside to check that everything was alright.

"Is there a problem Ash? I heard someone yelling"

"No dad everything is fine, actually could you come here for a sec?"

"Alright" Red took a seat beside Ash on the phone. The young trainer looked at his friend.

"Well Brock… let's talk about business"

Meanwhile – Sinnoh: Morning of the same day.  
(Sinnoh should be in the other side of the globe if I'm not mistaken)

A woman with blue hair walked through her home, reaching her daughter's room door "Dawn, you have to wake up or else you will be late!" she entered without knocking, seeing her daughter already awake and trying to fix the mess she called hair.

"I know mom, but this stupid hair won't stay down!" After a few more minutes of fighting against her own hair she had enough "Piplup use bubble beam!"

( **"Alright princess!** ")

The girl let a delighted squeal escape her lips after seeing her hair fixed, she turned around and hugged her penguin-like friend "You are amazing Piplup!"

( **"I know it… but don't stop the praises** ")

A small yellow rodent Pokémon watched the whole spectacle with amusement, the girl grabbed her bag and ran to the living room almost trampling over her mother "Let's go Piplup, Pikachu!"

"Be careful Dawn! Gosh… you really need to learn to be more cautious, now come and eat before you go, Professor Rowan offered to take you to the port, so you don't have to hurry"

"Then why did you arggh… never mind mom, let's just eat and wait for the professor"

( **"Hey Piplup, Dawn is pretty excited about the journey huh?"** )

The blue penguin looked at his friend like she had grown another head ( **"Dawn is always excited about going to new regions my loyal minion"** )

Pikachu sweat dropped ( **"I would like it if you stopped calling me that, is degrading and Dawn gave me a beautiful name so you should use it"** )

Piplup puffed his chest and smirked ( **"I'm the king of the team, everyone is my minion, Ampere"** )

( **"You know what? Never mind, you get impossible whenever you get all high and mighty"** ) Pikachu just went to the others who were already eating. ( **"Hey Lopunny, don't you think Dawn is a bit too excited?"** )

Lopunny giggled at her friend's curiosity ( **"Dawn has always been like that since she met Ash, Brock and Pikachu"** )

( **"Right… your almighty and overpowered crush"** ) Ampere had knew about the male Pikachu from Lopunny, and sometimes said that she acted like him.

( **"He is not almighty… and definitely not overpowered, but he was powerful and kind, remember those stories we told you, he defeated a Latios and a Regice after all"** ) answered Lopunny.

( **"And that is what makes me think he is overpowered, I hope to meet such a Pokémon one day, a Legend Slayer as you said** ") Ampere giggled a bit while Lopunny shook her head.

( **"That was his trainer's nickname… but I think it could apply to him too"** ) Lopunny giggled once again, it would be good to see her old crush again ¿would he like her now that she had evolved?

After half an hour later they were done and ready, Dawn's Pokémon were inside their balls except for Piplup and Pikachu, Professor Rowan arrived and greeted the girls with his serious expression.

"Professor you should smile more often" said Dawn giggling a bit at the Professor's impassive expression.

Johanna hugged her daughter "Be careful on your trip, it should take a week to reach Kalos, and don't forget to call me when you reach Coumarine City or Lumiose City ok?"

"Of course mom no need to worry, and I promise that I'll conquer those Pokémon Showcase too! Kalos here I come!" Ampere jumped on her shoulder while Piplup was carried on her arms.

Johanna saw her daughter get inside the car, Rowan started the engine and drove to the port "When you say that… is when I worry the most"

Kalos Region.

Ash was finishing his call with Brock, it had taken them a while sorting the details but they had an agreement "Then I will be counting on you from now on Brock"

"Of course my friend, I'll be more than glad to travel along with you once more, and I promise to repay all the generosity that your family has shown to me, I can't believe I'm now the head Doctor for the Kanto Champion and his son, and let's not forget about Grace of course, although I'm still not sure how you are going to convince her to let me work for her"

"Don't worry about that Brock, trust me when I said that all is sorted out on this end, she won't say no once I tell them who you are, you will know why once you arrive Lumiose"

Brock smiled and gave him a slight nod "Then I'll start the necessary paperwork and see you in Lumiose in one week, send me the recommendation letters as soon as you can to deliver them please"

"Of course my friend, those will be sent to you tonight, I'll be waiting then, see you later Brock!"

And with that the call ended, now Brock would be able to help him with his Pokémon, this time he was serious about the league, money wouldn't be a problem as Ash himself was quite wealthy for winning the Lilly of Valley conference and the Orange League, not to mention all those tournaments he won, and the incentives he received from the league for placing in the top 20.

Walking to the backyard he found Serena playing with Charmander, Fletchling and Fennekin, it was great watching her get along with her new Pokémon that quickly, it almost made him feel sort of jealous remembering how Pikachu hated him at the start.

"Serena, I need to talk to you and Grace for a moment"

"I'm coming sweetie" answered Serena with a winning smile, not even aware of her words or the blush that had covered Ash's face. "You guys can play around, just don't get too far away and follow Pikachu's and Pika's instructions" Her Pokémon gave a slight nod and went to play with the others.

Just as she was about to enter the house she remembered something and turned around "And no trying Flamethrower again Burst, I'm warning you"

Ash looked confused now while Charmander scratched his neck nervously "Burst?"

"Yeah that's Charmander's nickname, I thought it would be easier if we find another one in our travels or if it evolves into a Charizard, it is hard enough to difference Pikachu and Pika"

"Fair enough"

Once inside he asked Grace to talk to them which the older woman accepted and went to the living room.

"I wanted to talk to you about the journey, I'm planning on having a good friend of mine come with us, he is a Pokémon Doctor and a Breeder too, I'll be requiring his services but, the problem is that he just received his title not too long ago"

Grace was surprised at Ash's insight on the trip, it was a good thing that he wanted to bring someone that could take care of their Pokémon if they were away from any Pokémon Center "I see… but what would be the problem then?"

"Apparently the Pokémon Medic Association only lets Medics work under contract if it is from a famous trainer or celebrity, my father is writing a recommendation a petition letter right now for him, but I was wondering if you would be willing to add more value to this with another petition letter"

"I see now, being a famous Rhyhorn Racer myself the Association won't have any problem in letting him come…"

Ash gave her an affirmative nod "Me and my father will be paying for his services, and I want him here to take care of the growth of Serena's Pokémon too, she is going to be riding them in the future, that means they must be in top form and there is no one else I would rather have than him"

Serena was touched at her boyfriend's concern, it was true that they would need to take good care of their Pokémon during the journey and it did seem like a good idea to let a medic join them but… "You don't need to go that far for me Ash, I agree that is a good idea but I think you shouldn't burden yourself like this"

Ash just shook his head "No Serena this is not a problem for me or my family, and it also helps Brock in a lot of ways, I will need all the help I can get to win the Kalos League and I do plan on challenging Diantha for her title"

Grace agreed with him on that too, defeating the regional champion would be hard and he was going to need to be prepared "I agree with you but Serena is right, at least let me help you guys with part of the payment, after all we have more money than we need, and if it helps your friend then I don't see the problem, after all the better prepared the best"

"You don't need to do that Grace…"

"Neither do you, but you will do it anyway so I will help you… at least let me do this for my daughter Ash"

The young trainer understood that this was Grace's way of trying to help out her daughter too and apologize for not being a good mother "Okay then… I'll send the letters this night and we will see him in Lumiose City in a week, we have enough time for me to challenge Santalune's Gym"

"Then I better get that petition letter done right away, see you two in a while" said Grace walking out of the living room.

Ash turned to see Serena's conflicted look "Hey H…Ho…Hon… Serena, is something wrong?"

Serena stood up and took seat next to him "I have been wondering… why you kissed me that day? I've always liked you and to me all this seems like a dream… but I can't help but feel like everything is so rushed… you are going out of your way to help me and there is not much I can do for you"

Ash placed a hand on hers "You remember that story I told you about Mewtwo?"

"The one you turned into stone?"

Ash gave her a slight nod "you see, I never said this to anyone but, at that moment I remembered the day you moved, and the promise we made to always be together… for a moment I thought that I had failed you but then I came back… I was so happy to have a second chance"

It was true, for a moment he had thought that he was going to die without seeing her again and that his promise would be left unfulfilled.

"At first I didn't understand those feelings, and seeing Brock get rejected over and over just made me wary of feeling the same for someone else… but then it happened again two years later, May and I tried to help a Manaphy but in the mess we got caught in an underwater palace, there was only one escape capsule and there was just enough space for one person and small Pokémon, so I gave her my Pikachu and went back to try to fix everything"

Serena was listening to his story with apprehension, he had risked his life more than once but apparently had faced and cheated death twice.

"I almost died again Serena, but thanks to May and Manaphy whom talked to me before I lost consciousness I could go try again and save the whole place from sinking… that day I promised myself that if I ever found you I would stay by your side forever, even if you already had someone else I would just be your best friend and help you whenever you needed it"

The honey-blond trainer let a few tears slip by her cheeks "So when you kissed me…"

"…It was an impulse I think… if you rejected me then I would have apologized over and over again, but you didn't and you don't know how happy that made me… part of me didn't want to live wondering how life would be by your side, so I just went for it to find out" he chuckled nervously making his girlfriend giggle.

Serena kissed his lips tenderly for a moment "I'm glad you did sweetie, I really hoped that you would keep your promise from that day and come for me, when I finally understood that those weird feelings I had for you were love, it made me just want to see you even more"

"I don't want to think that we are going too fast or too slow… I just want to think that we are living our lives the way we want, and I don't see a better way to do it than with my beautiful girlfriend by my side" said Ash kissing her lips once more.

After a few moments they broke the kiss and Serena stood up "Is almost 6 pm, I'll finish packing and then comeback, we will buy supplies in Aquacorde on our way to Santalune tomorrow"

"Right" Ash agreed and followed Serena to the backyard again.

"Fennekin, Fletchling, Burst!" her Pokémon came running quickly "I'm going home but I'll comeback in a while, I have to pack everything for our journey tomorrow, you can stay here if you want but don't wander out of the limits of Ash's or my home ok? Fletchling I trust you to keep an eye on them"

Fennekin seemed annoyed that Serena thought they needed supervision, something that the girls quickly noticed "If you don't like it then show me that there is no need to worry" The three of them gave her a confident look and accepted.

Pikachu came to Ash and went to his shoulder ( **"Don´t worry pal, I'll keep an eye on them too, I'll tell the winged guys to help me"** )

Ash managed to understand that Pikachu would help "Alright buddy, I trust you to keep them safe if necessary"

Meanwhile: Somewhere Between Sinnoh and Kanto.

Dawn was walking enjoying herself, she had made enough money winning on her performances and had thought of traveling through Sinnoh once again when her mother told her about Pokémon Showcases on the faraway Kalos Region, at first she wasn't interested but her mother had gotten some videos of the event and after watching for a while she decided to try it out.

Her mother had told her that those were different that Contests but she just shrugged it out telling her that she would win nonetheless, not even allowing her mother to explain the differences to not 'spoil' the fun.

She quickly bought a ticket to Kalos on a cruise, quite expensive too, but she was able to afford it without worrying too much about it, after all she had won the Kanto Grand Festival recently, and she had made some more money appearing as a model in private events for some companies.

( **"You definitely outdid yourself this time Princess, we deserved such luxuries as these"** ) said Piplup while swimming in the pool.

Dawn smiled at him "You are enjoying it Piplup?" the little penguin gave her a slight nod and smile while floating on the water "I'm glad, how about you guys!?"

Ampere and Lopunny looked at her and smiled, letting their trainer know that they too were enjoying the trip.

( **"I can't believe we have a week to pamper ourselves and enjoy the trip"** ) said Lopunny while fixing her sunglasses.

( **"Well… I think this is boring, I would prefer to be practicing or battle someone"** ) answered Ampere earning light glare from her friend.

( **"And once again you remind me of him… gosh you Pikachu's and your love for action"** )

( **"Aww come on, don't be a party pooper now, I'm not used to staying still for too long Lopunny"** )

The bunny-like Pokémon just let a soft sigh escape ( **"We are stuck here for a whole week, you either get used to it and enjoy, or keep complaining and make Dawn feel guilty for not taking an air plane"** )

Ampere knew she was right, her trainer had chosen a cruise to let them rest and enjoy themselves so she might as well try to have fun.

( **"I hate it when you are right"** )

Kalos – Next Morning.

The new Vaniville group had reunited at the town's gates, their parents had gone to see them start their journey.

Shauna and Calem were hugging their parents, Serena was talking with her mother and laughing at some jokes. Red and Delia were trying to embarrass their son telling him to change his underwear, while Red told Serena to make sure he did which made her blush a very dark red.

Tierno and Trevor had finished saying their goodbyes and were already waiting ahead, the bigger guy had always dreamed of traveling with Serena, but it seemed like she would be traveling with Ash, Trevor had told him that he would travel along with him, he wanted to fill his pokedex but was not eager to make the whole trip alone.

Ash turned to his Pokémon, which had come to see their trainer and send him off "I'll be taking Squirtle and Aron with me, I'll be calling you guys periodically so don't get too comfortable and train hard" they cheered at their trainer's orders and swarmed him, assuring him that they would be prepared to fight.

Serena giggled at their antics and helped her boyfriend up "Its time sweetie, we have to go…" she turned to her mother and gave her a kiss "… see you later mom"

Grace was surprised by this, and after a few moments gave her daughter the biggest smile she could muster "Take care Serena! Show those little birds who's the boss! And Ash, take care of my little girl"

"I will mom" answered the boy while scratching his cheek nervously.

With that the whole group started walking out of the town, Ash turned to Serena and was about to tell her something when he noticed that she was crying, so he just took her hand and continued walking without saying a word.

The parents had dispersed and Delia and Red were about to walk back home when they noticed Grace was not moving "Grace?" Red watched his wife walk to their friend, at first she looked concerned but after a moment she just smiled and hugged her.

Grace's smile was still there but her tears didn't want to stop, she broke down and feeling how her knees trembled, she dropped to the ground hugging her friend "My baby… she was smiling and… so happy… she… she gave me a kiss…" her words were now a slight whisper to the couple but they understood… her baby was back after all.

* * *

 **Well guys, that is it for this chapter, I hope you liked it as much as I did.**

 **Remember to leave your reviews and let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**

 **See you later guys!**


	5. Crushed Crush - Reunions

**Hey everyone!**

 **It seems like last chapter didn't have the reception I was hoping for… Well it doesn't matter, I guess it was my fault for posting on Monday.**

 **Anyway, there seems to be a slight confusion that I'll point now.**

 **1\. - Pikachu is Ash's, Pika is Red's Pikachu, and Ampere is Dawn's Pikachu.**

 **Also Red has a Charizard too, that's the main reason Serena named her Charmander 'Burst', I'll be nicknaming some Pokémon to avoid confusion later on the story, not all of them though.**

 **Now onto the story!**

 **I'm amazed at how a lot of you don't see my evil plans coming to be.**

 **Damn I'm nervous about my first battle scene.**

* * *

Crushed Crush – Reunion.

It had been six days since the group had started their journey, Tierno and Trevor and decided to stay at Santalune's Forest two days before to gather data on the Pokémon living there. Shauna and Calem had stayed in the day before Santalune for Calem's first Gym battle.

Ash and Serena needed to get going to Lumiose City as Brook would be arriving the next day, they had made a good time traveling through route 4 and were now just two hours from Lumiose entrance.

"Hey Ash, do you think we should take a break? I'm not used to walking for so long"

Ash looked at his girlfriend "Yeah but we need to keep moving in an bit if we want to reach Lumiose before it gets dark"

Serena agreed and took out a package of bread, ham and a tomato berry sauce starting to make some sandwiches for them.

The young trainer let his Pokémon out to stretch and Serena did the same, Fletchling went to Serena to perch on her shoulder while Fennekin went to find some twigs to chew on, Burst was looking around when suddenly a wild Fletchling crashed against him.

( **"Hey what is your problem!?"** ) Asked an angry Burst.

The wild Fletchling used Peck and then answered ( **"You are my problem, this is my territory!"** )

Ash and Serena heard the commotion and went to check what was happening, the black haired trainer noticed the Fletchling "What happened?"

"I think this Fletchling is angry because we are on its territory" said Serena.

Burst looked at Serena and was about to tell her that he wanted to fight the little nuisance when Ash stepped up with Pikachu "I'll catch him, let's fight buddy!"

Just as he was about to send an attack, his Pokedex started vibrating, he took it off and immediately two pieces of the device shoot to the ground a few meters from one another, suddenly an strange hologram appeared signaling Pikachu's and the wild Fletchling health in some kind of bar, on the side were the moves that his Pikachu learned, and there were two of them with a "?" mark.

Ash remembered something about this new feature from an e-mail sent to him by the Pokémon League "Alright Pikachu use Volt Tackle!"

The skill started glowing in the hologram while Pikachu proceeded to make his attack, Fletchling tried to evade it but he was too slow, the Electric Type had effectively struck his target and the hologram showed Ash that the bar went from green to a blinking red and a tag besides it that said Paralyzed.

He took a pokéball from his belt and threw it, Fletchling went inside and the ball moved once… twice… thrice and then a light signaled that it was caught.

"Yes! I caught a Fletchling!" celebrated Ash.

Serena walked to him and gave him a peck on the cheek "Congratulations… but I didn't know that battles were like that"

"They weren't like that before, but something happened in the last Lily of Valley conference while I was in Unova, there was a trainer who sent his Electivire to battle on the third round against a Rhyperior, and although Rhyperior was beating Electivire senseless neither Electivire's trainer or Rhyperior's stopped or called them back…"

Serena's eyes widened while using one hand to cover her mouth "What about the Referee, why didn't he stop the match!?"

"Apparently he had placed a bet for Electivire, so he just didn't signaled the battle to end, Electivire did stand up, and managed to land a critical hit on Rhyperior, but then everything went from bad to worse, Rhyperior used Horn Drill on the already exhausted Electivire… it was overkill… literally."

Surely Ash was kidding, there was no way that the Referee would have just stood by and watch a Pokémon…

"It was on the News Serena, a purple haired boy who got his Electivire killed on an Official League Match, they wanted to keep going with the battles but trainers and spectators joined and demanded the League for some kind of punishment, in the end everything got out of hands and the conference was suspended."

Ash then explained that they wanted to suspend not only the Valley Conference but all others too to investigate on more illegal bets and foul play from the referees, Mr. Goodshow had managed to avoid this from happening banning the two trainers from participating on the League ever again and making a compromise to have at least two auxiliary referee in each battle for each league.

It was accepted but people was still very aware of battling and risking another incident like what happened, it wasn't until a few weeks ago that a foreign company called Lysandre Labs offered its help, building an add on for the Pokedex that would allow battling trainers see something called Health Points, which were calculated by a Pokedex based on information gathered about the Pokémon caught around the regions and shared to trainers, allowing them to stop a battle when once a 'Fainted' status was shown.

The system itself was kind of complex to say the least, but it was very helpful and realistic on the calculation of Pokémon stats and showing all the moves the Pokémon knew, it also could sync with the Pokedex to show the ones a trainer had already.

"The system seems very complex, but it was made to stop something like in the Valley conference so it seems ok… do you think they would implement it on everything?" asked Serena not seeing how it could be applied to all the events that involved Pokémon.

"I don't think so, this was made with Pokémon battles in mind although it doesn't activate when I'm training, I don't really know how it works exactly but it doesn't get in the way so is ok"

After a few minutes they packed their stuff and continued towards Lumiose City.

* * *

Meanwhile in Lumiose City:

"I can't believe we got here so quick, after that stop in Vermilion City I really thought we wouldn't be here in a week's time" thought Dawn to herself, the trip had been considerably more quick than she expected, it turned out that the cruise had a direct route after Vermilion City so it didn't make any other stop.

Upon reaching Coumarine City she tried to participate on her first event, but she needed to get her Pokedex first and had promised her mother to reach Lumiose in a week time, so staying three days in Coumarine wouldn't do.

She was planning on walking all the way to the city, but a bus ride seemed more appealing once she discovered that Route 13 was actually a desert. At least the bus had A.C so it was a thousand times better than walking.

Once in the Pokémon Center in the south avenue the coordinator asked Nurse Joy for a room "Gladly, your room is number 506, this card gives you access to the room" said the nurse giving the blue haired girl an Id card.

"Thank you Nurse Joy, have a good evening!" The coordinator went to her room to get settled, once inside she saw a phone near the T.V, "I think I better call mom to let her known I'm fine"

Dialing the number she waited for her mother to answer, after a few moments a familiar figure appeared on screen "Oh Dawn! Good morning sweetie, how was your trip?"

"Hello mom! It was good and I enjoyed it a lot… you seem tired"

"Yeah well… is six in the morning here"

The coordinator gave her mother an apologetic smile "Sorry about that, I didn't remember the time difference"

"No problem, I'm glad that you called me right away, so you are in Lumiose yet?"

"Yeah, I'm actually calling from South Avenue Pokémon Center right now, I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine, I'll be calling you later but for now you should rest more, take care mom! Love ya!"

"Me too sweetie!"

And with that the call ended "I guess I'll take a shower but first, let's get you guys checked at with Nurse Joy"

Ampere and Piplup agreed and followed their trainer, once in the reception she went to the nurse who was giving a trainer his Pokémon.

"Hello again Nurse Joy, I would like to have my Pokémon checked please" she put three Poke balls in a tray and Piplup and Ampere got in the Desk.

"Of course, they will be ready in fifteen minutes"

"Thank you!" with that the girl went back to her room to take her bath.

* * *

Back with Ash and Serena:

"So this is Lumiose City… is amazing!" said Ash with awe at the sheer size of the city, it was by far the biggest city he had visited.

Serena just giggled at her boyfriend's antics and took his hand, pulling him along to the Pokémon Center in South Avenue.

After ten minutes they had reached their destination, asking Nurse Joy for a room, Ash then remembered that his Fletchling still needed attention "Nurse Joy, would you mind taking care of my Fletchling?"

"It would be my pleasure, you can retrieve it in a few minutes"

"Thank you!" he looked at his girlfriend "I'll set our bags in our room"

Serena agreed and took Pikachu from his shoulder "I'll get us some food then" Ash agreed and let Aron and Squirtle out too.

"You guys stay with Serena, make sure nothing bad happens to her got it?"

Serena just rolled her eyes and giggled "Like something would happen to me inside the Pokémon Center"

The black haired trainer just gave her a smirk and a peck on the lips "Well yeah, I don't want other guys hitting on my girl"

Serena blushed slightly and slapped his arm lightly with a small smile "Just get going young man, I'll be waiting for you" getting an affirmative nod from her boyfriend she turned around with his Pokémon on tow following her to the dining area, she let her Pokémon out too.

"We are in a Pokémon Center, don't be rude and try to stay close to me got it?" she instructed her Pokémon.

While Ash was walking into his room, a few doors from his a girl with blue hair was going out and walking to the reception.

"Hello Nurse Joy, are my Pokémon ready?"

"Of course! Here they are" She gave back Ampere and Piplup along her three other Pokéball which had Pachirisu Quilava and Lopunny.

Dawn asked then if she could register for the Pokémon Showcase there, but the Nurse informed her that those where done in another place, while she gave the girl instructions Lopunny had gone out of her Poke ball.

( **"Hey Lopunny! Do you think this place got something interesting to do?"** )

Lopunny was about to answer when something caught her eye, in the dining area, most specifically on the third table near the window there was a male Pikachu, he seemed quite familiar.

( **"** _ **Is he… no he can't be here…? I'm just getting ahead of myself**_ **"** ) thought the bunny-like Pokémon.

Ampere noticed her friend looking at something, she turned around and saw the same Pikachu ( **"Hey Lops, do you think that Pikachu is the same one you always talk about?"** )

Piplup was way too entertained with his own reflection on a near crystal to ask him, she was about to answer when a girl walked to the table and sat down with a lot of food, and giving some to the Pokémon.

( **"I don't think so… He is not with Ash"** )

Ampere saw the guy getting along with his friends, even sharing some food with Aron who seemed to want to taste the electric type's food ( **"Then you wouldn't mind if I went and said hi?"** )

( **"Of course not, be my guest"** )

Ampere walked to the group followed by Lopunny, they reached the group and greeted them ( **"Hey there guys!"** )

Pikachu turned around and found another Pikachu, he always got excited finding more of his kind along the way ( **"Hello there! Want to join us?"** )

Ampere accepted right away but Lopunny seemed reluctant to do so, she stared at the male Pikachu for a moment before asking ( **"Have we meet before? I can't shake this funny feeling that I know you"** )

Pikachu thought for a moment and shook his head ( **"Sorry but I can't say I've meet you before"** )

Although her essence seemed familiar, he couldn't remember meeting this particular Lopunny before.

Lopunny let a sad sigh escape her lips, just as she was about to ask something her trainer's voice took her attention "Hey guys, don't wander alone like that"

Dawn turned to the girl, whom had been watching everything from the beginning "I'm sorry if they bothered you"

"Oh no, there is nothing to be sorry about, I'm Serena" said the girl with a smile.

"Serena? My older brother is in love with a girl with the same name…" the blue haired girl mumbled to herself and then giggled "…but I digress, my name is Dawn"

At hearing the name, Pikachu turned back to the table watching the girl, just as he was about to go to her, Pachirisu jumped from her shoulder and send a small spark at Pikachu, whom recognized the electric signal right away

( **"No way! Hey there Pachirisu, long time no see you!"** )

( **"Hey there big bro!"** ) The two of them shared a high paw, Piplup noticed for the first time the group of Pokémon and immediately recognized Pikachu.

Jumping from her trainer's lap he joined the other two, sharing a high paw with the Electric Type too.

Pikachu then jumped to Dawn's shoulders and rubbed his cheek against hers.

"Your Pikachu is quite affectionate huh?" said the coordinator patting the male Pikachu.

"Is not mine, he is my boyfriend's Pikachu, actually Aron and Squirtle are too, he should be getting here in no time"

Dawn tilted her head in confusion and asked "Might I ask what your boyfriend's name is?"

"His name is Ash Ketchum"

Dawn's eyes widened and almost slammed her hands on the table "No way! You ARE that Serena!"

"You know him?"

"Know him? Oh boy if I do! And is time to fulfill my duty as a younger sister… telling you embarrassing stories about him!"

Dawn had started to tell Serena about the silly things Ash had done during their travels.

Meanwhile on the stairs Ash couldn't help but feel a shiver up his spine.

Walking to the dining area he was surprised to find Serena talking with another girl… a very familiar girl.

"Hey Serena, everything is settled now"

Serena turned to him and rewarded him with a sly smile "Why thank you my dear Ashley… your food is ready"

Now that had gotten the experienced trainer on edge… that was not a name he wanted to remember "Who told you that?"

Dawn stood up and turned to him "Who else silly? Your dear young sister!"

Ash's eyes widened "Dawn!? Holy Miltank is been so long!"

Both of them shared a quick hug, which made Serena slightly jealous, but she had no right to interfere with two friends who had found each other again after too long… Ash wasn't trying to kiss Dawn after all.

The trainer and coordinator broke the hug, Dawn took her seat again while Ash sat down next to his girlfriend.

While the trainers conversed about their travels, the Pokémon were catching up too.

Lopunny turned to Pikachu with her ears down ( **"So we do know each other after all"** )

Pikachu looked confused ( **"We do?"** ) thinking for a few moments he realized something, it was in the moment Lopunny put her arms on her face and her fur covered it ( **"You are Buneary! Damn I didn't recognize you at all, you look so different"** )

Lopunny smiled shyly ( **"Different in a good way?"** )

( **"Well yeah, you are not clinging to me at first sight"** )

Lopunny smile dropped along with her ears but Pikachu didn't seem to notice, Ampere on the other hand saw this and tried to warn the male Pikachu ( **"Pikachu"** ) but he didn't seemed to take the hint.

( **"It used to be quite uncomfortable"** )

Oh… so she made him uncomfortable…

( **"Pikachu stop…"** ) Warned Ampere once more.

( **"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you saved my ass back there when Jenny was about to squash me, but you sure were very hyperactive whenever I was around…"** ) he turned to Ampere ( **"… could you believe that she froze my trainer when he was trying to catch her? But in the end you went with Dawn… good old days"** ) just then he noticed the disapproving look on Ampere, turning back he saw Lopunny's saddened face and some tears were threatening to fall.

The bunny-like Pokémon just turned around and sat beside her trainer, Pikachu tilted his head while Ampere just shook hers ( **"She said you were a kind and pretty cool guy, but I think you are just an asshole"** )

Pikachu turned around and saw the disapproving look on his friend's faces, he just sighed feeling bad after realizing he had said too much.

Dawn noticed her Pokémon crestfallen expression and turned to her, which made Ash and Serena look at her too.

"Hey what's the matter with Lopunny?"

Ampere stared at her trainer and tried to tell her what Pikachu had said, the coordinator understood just enough to know that it was Pikachu's fault.

"What did you said to Lopunny, Pikachu?"

Ash turned to his Pikachu and saw him looking at the ground in shame "Hey buddy, if you did something wrong you should apologize"

Pikachu understood this and went to Lopunny who turned the other way to avoid looking at him ( **"Hey Lopunny… I said some pretty mean things there, I didn't realize you felt so strongly about it… you are a great Pokémon and even better friend, I'm sorry for hurting your feelings"** )

Lopunny opened one eye and saw Pikachu's sincerity, she just let another sigh escape and turned to him ( **"What bothers me is the fact that I seemed to be like such a nuisance to you, I've liked you for so long but you've never shown any interest… I think it was my fault too, I was too pushy"** )

Pikachu extended his paw with a little smile, not answering at her honest and direct confession ( **"Are we ok then? Friends?** )

Lopunny seemed to notice that once again Pikachu was avoiding the topic but decided to not pursue it anymore for now, so she just shook paws with him ( **"Friends"** )

The trainers saw that the two friends were on good terms once again and smiled, Serena then remembered something and turned to her boyfriend "Hey Ash, is your Fletchling alright?"

Ash stood up and started walking "Thanks for remembering me, I need to pick him up"

Once he was out of hearing range she turned to Dawn, not knowing how to ask the next question.

"You seem troubled by something" stated Dawn noticing Serena's distress.

"I wanted to ask… well… if you…"

"If I liked Ash more like a friend?"

Serena blushed slightly, she didn't want to seem the possessive type…

Dawn just giggled a bit "To be honest I used to like him like that…"

Serena's eyes widened a bit and was about to say something but was interrupted by Dawn "… You can't really blame me, he is a nice guy, and very kind with humans and Pokémon alike but… I lost to you before even trying to compete"

The sky rider in training sat silently waiting for the info to sink, Dawn let a few seconds pass and continued "Don't get me wrong, I don't like him like that anymore, but he gave me something that I'll treasure for the rest of my life, something you won't ever be able to take from me… and that is the fact that I love him like a big brother, and he loves me like a younger sister, and I'll never break that bond nor try to get more of it, he deserves to be happy and I know that you are the one he choose, so I've moved on"

Serena appreciated the girl's honesty "I'm fine with it actually, I'm glad to know that he has friends he can rely on if anything happens… and I won't ever try to break your bond with Ash, I might be his girlfriend but he is not a possession, and I know that he would never do anything to hurt me, so I'll trust in you too"

The two girls smiled at each other and Serena noticed Ash coming back "By the way Ash, both of us have a Fletchling, don't you think it will be confusing?"

"I thought of that too, that's why I'm naming mine…" Ash's Fletchling, who was out of his ball at the time, flew to his trainer's shoulder "…What do you think of 'Brave Bird'?"

Dawn and Serena shook their head "Is a long name… and I feel like there is people that is not going to appreciate it" said Dawn with an awkward smile.

"How about… Arrow? You know, fletching is the name of the back of an arrow…" said Serena.

Fletchling seemed to like the nickname and chirped happily.

Ash smiled and rubbed his fingers under Arrow's peck "Then Arrow is it… I'm just bad with names"

The tiny robing Pokémon flew to the group to get acquainted, with Pikachu and Lopunny joining them too.

Dawn then remembered something and asked the pair "So how did you guys meet again?"

Ash started retelling how he went back from Unova and about his family moving to Vaniville Town, Serena then told her about how she was in the forest and tripped after being startled by a Poliwag.

Dawn heard everything with a dreamy expression until the kiss part "You really did it!?"

Serena looked a bit embarrassed even though it was her favorite part, Ash just laughed it out "Well it was your idea remember?"

This got the honey-blond girl confused "What do you mean Ash?"

"When I was in Sinnoh I told Dawn about you, I was thinking on how I should confess my feelings, and Dawn was the one who told me that I could always just go straight to you and kiss you to see your reaction"

Dawn let her tongue out and scratched the back of her head nervously "I wasn't expecting you to be that bold"

Serena smiled slightly "So is thanks to you that Ash and I are together now… thank you Dawn"

"Aww it was my pleasure"

Ash was happy that his girlfriend and his little sister where getting along that well "By the way Dawn, have you used the new battle system?"

The coordinator gave him a nod "They will be used in the Battle round for contests too, every trainer must get a new Pokedex or at least a device compatible with the new add on"

"I see, I had a battle with Fletchling a few hours ago and when I was about to start my Pokedex went crazy"

"Apparently it starts whenever the owner yells 'Let's Fight' or something similar, otherwise it will be on standby"

Serena then remembered something Dawn said before "You said that it would be either a Pokedex or a device compatible with it?"

"Yeah, there are trainers that don't hold Pokedex, there are other options for them like rings, wristbands, Holocasts, PokéNav Plus and more" answered Dawn with a smile, just for it to drop after a few moments "What happened in the Valley Conference should never happen again, it really shook the world to see such a heartless pair of trainers, but the Pokémon League also suffered a fatal blow, it showed they weren't really prepared for an event like this"

Silence reigned the table, the Pokémon didn't said anything either, choosing to just finish eating.

After a while they were done, Ash got up and stretched a bit, just to be scolded by Serena "Don't do that Ash, you might hurt yourself"

"Sorry honey…" the black haired trainer was cheering inside, he had been trying to call Serena like that for a few days but shyness always got the better of him.

Serena for her part was blushing intensely, Dawn was enjoying their interactions too "I have to say, I'm surprised that you managed to drill some manners on that thick head of his, Serena… if this were Old Ash we are talking about, he would have devoured our hands if they had gone near his food"

The girls laughed at this while Ash scratched his cheek "Very funny Dawn, why don't we all go take a walk along the city? We need to find the airport too"

Dawn tilted her head at this "Airport? Are you guys leaving to another region?"

Serena smiled at her and replied "No… actually we will wait for one of Ash's friends from Kanto, his name is Brock and he is arriving tomorrow morning"

"No way! Brock is going to travel with you?"

Ash grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up "Of course, you should join us too, it will be fun to have the team together again!"

"But won't I be bothering you two?"

Serena took Dawn's hand "Don't be silly, we might be a couple but we keep our stuff for when we are alone, besides it would be cool to have another girl in the team, is going to be weird if I'm the only girl traveling with them"

The coordinator just smiled at her "Okay then, I'll gladly go with you guys!"

The group gathered their Pokémon leaving only Ampere, Piplup, Pikachu and Fennekin out, Dawn was impressed that the little vixen had managed to climb to Serena's shoulder and stay there without falling.

Ampere went to Dawn's left shoulder which left her next to Pikachu, it was time to ask the male about his behavior when it concerned Lopunny ( **"Hey Pikachu, why do you avoid Lopunny's feelings?"** )

Pikachu seemed troubled, he didn't feel the same for the female bunny-like Pokémon ( **"Well… I don't think I should tell you this…"** )

( **"Aww come on, I won't tell her, I just want to understand you guys better"** )

At Ampere's insistence he decided to give up ( **"Because I don't know how to tell her…"** )

( **"That you feel the same? It shouldn't be a problem"** )

Pikachu shook his head and finished his previous sentence ( **"I don't know how to tell her that I don't feel the same… she is a great friend, and I like her the same way I like all my friends, but I…"** )

Ampere's face changed to one of sadness, she really wanted her friend to be happy, but no one could force Pikachu to feel the same for Lopunny.

( **"I'll tell her eventually… but I don't know how"** ) finished Pikachu.

Ampere understood and decided to just enjoy the views along her trainer, Pikachu might have been an asshole back in the PokéCenter, but he wasn't that bad once you got to know him, actually that seemed like the first time it happened so she decided to get to know him first before judging him.

Only time would tell what the future would hold for them, for now the best was to enjoy the moment.

Later that night they had gone back to the PokéCenter, Dawn's room was just a few doors from the couple.

"Which room are you staying at Serena?" Asked Dawn.

Serena suddenly got nervous but tried to hide it "Well… I'm in room 510"

The coordinator then turned to Ash "And you?"

"My room? Well is the… room 510" answered and equally nervous Ash

"510… you guys got a two bed room, that is nice"

Serena smiled still nervous "Y-yeah! Is a double bedroom… well see you tomorrow Dawn, sleep well!"

Dawn waved a hand watching the pair go inside their room, at that moment Nurse Joy was passing by, having heard everything she turned to Dawn with a sly grin and said "Funny thing is… we just have single bedrooms"

While the nurse retired Dawn processed the new information, and after a few seconds she gave a loud "eehh!?"

* * *

The next morning:

Dawn had finished her mourning ritual and was now going out of her room, finding Serena and Ash already awake and dressed too standing outside her door "Morning guys"

"Morning Dawn, did you sleep well?" asked Serena, whom got a grin from Dawn.

"Not as good as you two"

Serena tilted her head in confusion and Dawn decided to clarify "Your bed must have been too comfy, I'm surprised you decided to get out of bed so early"

This made the honey-blond girl and the black haired boy blush hard "W-Well… yeah it… it was very comfortable"

"I bet… did you sleep on top? Or perhaps… on the bottom?" Serena was now very flustered and trying to think what to answer, did her friend know? No that couldn't be… or could it?

"O-on top?"

"Oh my! How bold of you Serena, he was a very good pillow eh?" teased the coordinator some more.

At this time Serena's brain had just collapsed and was trying to reboot "Y-yes he was! I- I mean It was! I-I mean…!"

Ash was pretty flustered too but decided to stay quiet, Dawn just giggled and stopped teasing them "Don't worry guys, Joy told me that there weren't rooms with more than one bed, this is payback for trying to fool me, we will talk about this later Serena" she winked at her friends and turned around hoping all the way to the stars and humming a song.

Serena had recovered by now but was still flustered "That girl is going to be my end, I just know it"

"Nah… she was just having fun" he chuckled a bit earning himself a soft slap on the arm.

"Very funny Ketchum, come on we have to pick Brock up from the airport" she took her hand and pulled him along to the exit.

The group got in a cab and asked the driver to take them to the airport, apparently it was in the north avenue so it was quite far. Once there they noticed that the Kanto flight had just arrived, Ash extended a big sign that said 'Brock' in bold letters.

A few minutes passed and the Pokémon Doctor found them, walking to them he spotted Dawn with him, and a blonde-haired girl who he guessed was Grace's daughter.

"Hey Ash long time no see you! And you too Dawn, is good to see that you are doing ok" he then turned to the new girl who waved a hand at him "Hello there, my name is Brock Harrison" He stretched his hand for her to shake.

"Hello to you too my name is Serena Yvonne, I'm Ash's girlfriend" she took his hand.

Brock shook it slightly while his mouth dropped to the ground "Ash got a girlfriend!?" he turned to his friend who was grinning and rubbing a finger under his nose "You have to tell me your secret Ash!"

Dawn just shook her head and smiled at her old friend "Maybe if you stop being so pushy and try to decide for just one girl, you will have more luck"

Brock grinned at her "Actually I was kidding, I have a girlfriend too"

"What!?" this caught Ash and Dawn by surprise.

Brock just laughed at their expression "Yeah! Her name is Lucy, I think Ash remember her"

Ash thought about it and remembered the Pike Queen "The Queen of the Battle Pike!? Wow Brock you certainly outdid yourself" He told Dawn and Serena who was Lucy and both of them were quite impressed.

Serena took Ash's hand and looked at her two new companions "Let's move back to the PokéCenter on the South Avenue, Brock must be tired"

The Pokémon Doctor agreed and followed them, they took another cab and went back to the South Avenue, during the ride Brock was taking a look at Pikachu and Ampere, and expressed how impressed he was about their health despite him being away for so long.

Once they arrived their destination they didn't lost time in getting Brock settled.

"So what is the plan?" Asked Brock.

"Rest today and we will be on the move tomorrow morning, we need to get to Santalune City for my first Gym battle" answered Ash.

Serena took a sip of water from her glass "I'm training Fletchling to compete in the Sky Prix, but I need to catch two more flying type Pokémon"

Dawn was coming back from calling her mom "I just transferred Pachirisu and brought my Rufflet and Togekiss, I need to train for my first Pokémon Showcase and get my Pokedex from someone called Sycamore just a few streets from here"

Serena smiled at her and seemed anxious "That's great! I can't wait to see your Pokepuff!"

Dawn seemed confused "Pokepuff? What is that?"

"They are similar to small cakes made from berries, I can show you some recipes if you want" offered Serena.

The coordinator seemed relieved and thanked her friend, then Ash said "At least it will be interesting to see you dance"

Once again Dawn seemed to panic "Dance!?"

Serena gave her a slight nod "Pokémon Showcases have a variety of events that might vary from place to place, from baking to dancing and styling Pokémon, but unlike contests where just the Pokémon needs to appeal to the judge, A trainer and her Pokémon must appeal to the whole public as everyone will vote for the winner and reward her efforts with a Princess Key"

Ash looked at Dawn "Don't tell me you didn't know about all of this already?"

"No, I thought it would be the same as a Pokémon Contest, I wasn't expecting for this to be so different… Now I'm glad I didn't participate in the Coumarine Showcase" Dawn seemed depressed as she didn't know what to do, sure she could dance, but making a whole routine to match her Pokémon would be hard.

Serena put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled "Don't worry about it Dawn I'll help you practice, and I´m sure we can think of something along the way"

Dawn smiled at her "You are right Serena! No need to worry!"

Brock and Ash looked at each other and laughed "And that's when we worry the most!"

The girl gave them a pout and started punching them lightly, Serena just laughed at their antics before looking out the window… this was going to be a great journey.

 **There you have it guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I certainly did!**

 **Some of you are probably mad at me for Pikachu not liking Lopunny… oh well, I'll start walking to the fire.**

 **Let a review in the box bellow!**

 **See you guys next weekend!**


	6. Lovers quarrels - Our first time?

**Hello everyone!**

 **Another week another chapter, but first.**

 **1\. - The trainer that got his Electivire killed wasn't Paul, I already said that he won't be appearing at all.**

 **2\. – Ash's rival is going to be Calem, I think it was pretty obvious… and Serena will have her own rival as well.**

 **3\. – Miette will appear in this story.**

 **4\. – Let me know if you would like it I make this story M-rated…**

 **Special thanks to 123pearlshipping for making part of this chapter possible.**

 **I love it when Cortana says "Hello master"… makes me feel giddy inside.**

* * *

Lover's quarrels – Our first time?

It was the morning of a new day and our heroes where enjoying the beauty of Santalune city, Pidgey and Fletchling chirping happily, and the tranquil that came with the rising sun…

"You stupid, insensitive, big jerk!"

… Maybe not.

Serena walked out of the PokéCenter fuming, being followed by Ash who was trying to talk to her.

"I'm not saying that you should break your promise, I'm just suggesting that Fletchling and Charmander might like to battle rather than just train, it will make them stronger"

Serena turned around and gave Ash an angry look "And I told you I won't be leaving my Fennekin feel left out!"

Dawn walked out of the PokéCenter too with Ampere on her shoulder, after learning that Pikachu didn't like staying in his Pokéball she had taken a liking to staying outside too "Come on Serena, just listen to him, I think Fennekin would understand it!"

"I said no!" Serena turned around and walked away, Ash just stared at her and then to Dawn "Just let her be"

The coordinator turned to her brother "Would you drop the topic?"

"Not a chance, I promised Charizard that I would help her raise Charmander, I know Charmander understands Serena's feelings, but once he evolve it might become a problem"

Dawn didn't understand why Charmander would give her friend problems, but he had experience with those kind of Pokémon so he would know better… still, she slipped past Ash and went looking for her.

Serena walked to the park fuming, two of her Pokéballs moved abruptly and let the Pokémon inside free.

The Sky-rider-to be looked at her friends, they had arrived Santalune two days ago and Ash was training for his first gym battle when the topic came afloat.

To let Charmander and Fletchling have Gym battles… the idea was appealing but she didn't want to let Fennekin out of the team, if they won then her precious little friend would be the only one with no kind of achievement, no… she knew that even if they didn't battle, once Charmander evolved fully Fennekin would only be her companion.

The little fox looked down feeling guilty, she had made her trainer promise that she wouldn't oblige her to do Gym battles, and now was having a fight with her mate.

Serena stroked her ears softly and looked at Charmander and Fletchling "Listen guys, I know is not fair for you two, and believe me when I say that I totally understand your feelings, I know you would love to fight against strong opponents and grow stronger but… I…"

Charmander was slightly disappointed, he thought that he would be battling soon, but he knew that Ash was strong enough for him to train so it really didn't matter.

Fletchling had a slight idea of why Serena didn't want to have Gym battles, he remembered his trainer's mom talking about Serena not having a lot of friends, and maybe it was like being left out of the flock all alone so she wouldn't let Fennekin feel out of the team like that.

Both of them nodded at each other and then looked at Serena, trying to let her know that they understood she cared for every member of the team and that they were ok with not having Gym battles.

The honey-blond haired girl smiled at them and hugged them, knowing that they were disheartened for not being able to battle but willing to let it go for their friend "I'll find out another way to make you guys strong"

At that moment a familiar voice broke their moment "Hey Serena!"

Looking around she found Dawn with Ampere on her shoulder walking to her "Dawn… sorry for leaving like that"

"Nah don't worry, Ash can be a stubborn jerk sometimes, but he was just trying to look out for you… he is worried about his promise to Charizard and wants to help you" explained Dawn.

Serena nodded slightly "I know, but… I have my reasons Dawn"

"I know you do… anyway why don't we just forget this and get ourselves a 'girl's day'?

Serena smiled at her friend gratefully just for it to turn into a devilish smile "Guess who took your brother's credit card?"

Dawn looked at her with a shocked expression… which turned into one of joy "Yay! You rule Serena!"

While the girls enjoyed themselves Ash and Brock were having a talk with Red over the Holo caster.

"My son has told me that you are quite the Doctor, I'm looking forward to meeting you"

"Likewise Mr Ketchum, is an honor to be working for you"

"Just call me Red, you are making me feel old"

Brock gave him a slight nod and turned to Ash "Well then, I'll be leaving in 15 minutes, I should be back tomorrow in the evening, enough time for you to win your Gym battle"

"The bus leaves near here so I'll walk you there, it should take you about three hours to reach Vaniville Town" said Ash walking out of the PokéCenter and to the bus stop with Pikachu on his shoulder and Brock following behind.

"Hey Ash… why don't you drop the topic with Serena about the Gym battles?"

"Because I don't want Charmander losing respect for her, I know she doesn't want to let Fennekin down, but I think is not fair for Charmander to just sit around while Fletchling is training"

Brock remembered when Charizard used to ignore Ash and attack him, so he knew that his concerns were not misplaced.

"I'll let you figure this one out then, just don't push her too much… she is my other boss after all" said the Doctor with a smile, seeing the bus arriving.

Ash smiled slightly and shook his head slowly "Take care, I'll see you tomorrow"

After seeing his friend off he started walking back to the PokéCenter to wait for the girls to get back, taking his wallet to buy a water bottle he noticed something was amiss "Where is my credit card?"

Looking around for a few moments realization came to him "Serena!"

His money would suffer the consequences of their little fight, he was just about to get inside the PokéCenter when a Pokémon caught his attention… it was a blue frog looking intently at him, he remembered seeing a similar Pokémon before… a Froakie.

Pikachu then walked to him ( **"Hey there! Something wrong?"** )

Froakie got near the rodent Pokémon ( **"Hello, I would like to request a battle with your trainer, I've seen the power that his Pokémon achieve and I would like to test him and see if he is worthy of being my trainer"** )

Pikachu tilted his head and then turned to his trainer with sparks coming of his cheeks, Ash seemed to get the idea "So he wants to battle? Ok then!"

They went to the battle field behind the PokéCenter, Ash took out his Pokedex and let the P.B.S activate.

Froakie readied himself and Pikachu waited for orders "Alright buddy start with Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu started running to the blue frog with sparks covering his body, Froakie evaded the attack and countered with Slash.

"Pikachu evade and use Iron Tail!"

Getting out of the way, Pikachu slammed his tail against Froakie, the P.B.S showed that a good amount of health was dealt to Froakie.

The frog Pokémon got up and used Water Pulse, only for Pikachu to use Quick Attack and get out of the way.

"Pikachu Thunder Wave!"

Froakie tried to evade the new attack but he was too slow for the yellow rodent, feeling himself get slower he prepared to use another attack but Pikachu was faster "Thunderbolt!"

The attack struck and the P.B.S showed that Froakie was weakened and couldn't fight anymore. Ash congratulated his friend and walked to the Froakie, the frog Pokémon looked at him and then took out a Pokéball from his Frubbles making it roll to him.

"You want me to have it? Does that mean that you want to come with me?" Asked the trainer to Froakie whom nodded at him with a smile "Alright then, let's have you checked at"

Meanwhile with Dawn and Serena.

The coordinator looked at her friend and asked "Well? Where should we go first?"

"There is a boutique near, we could look around and then go for an ice cream"

At hearing Serena's plan the blue haired girl smiled "Sounds good"

The two of them walked to the Boutique and looked around, trying on various outfits and buying some more. Looking at other stores they found accessories for their Pokémon, Serena knew that Charmander and Fletchling wouldn't be interested on cute accessories, but Fennekin would definitely love them.

As time went by they noticed that it was getting late, after enjoying most of the day shopping and hanging out they were now going back to the PokéCenter with a lot of bags.

"I think we it would've been better to let Ash carry all this as his punishment" said Dawn exhausted.

Serena giggled and gave her friend a slight nod "Yeah, maybe next time I can make him come with us"

Once they went inside the Center they noticed Ash walking to the backyard where the battlefield was.

Dawn offered Serena to leave their stuff in her room, the honey-blond girl accepted and gave her friend the ID card and her stuff "I´ll go talk with Ash"

Catching up with her boyfriend she was deciding how to approach him.

"Welcome back Serena, is everything ok?" Asked Ash turning around and facing her.

"How did you know?"

"Well… I don't know how to explain it… I think I just felt you were behind me"

Serena looked to the ground "I'm sorry for what I said this morning… I just"

"I know, you don't want to let Fennekin feel left out, I talked with Brock after you left"

Fennekin joined Ash's Pokémon, noticing the new addition to Ash's team.

( **"Hello, I'm Fennekin"** )

( **"I'm Froakie, is nice to meet such a lovely lady"** ) the frog gave a small bow making the fox giggle.

Serena heard Fennekin and turned to her, seeing the Froakie talking to her friend "Is a Froakie"

Ash turned to his Pokémon "Yeah, I caught him this morning after Brock left for Vaniville, he should be back tomorrow evening"

"I see…" Serena noticed that Froakie was pretty calm, unlike Squirtle and Aron who just run around and play.

Pikachu turned around trying to find Ampere, if Serena was back then that meant that his friend was back too, but he couldn't find her so he supposed that she was with her trainer in her room.

"Serena… I'm sorry for pushing the whole Gym battling thing on you, I just… I'm afraid that Charmander might turn his back on you once he evolves" Ash explained his girlfriend.

Serena's eyes widened "Why would he do that?"

"When Charizard evolved, he turned his back on me and used to attack me anytime I tried to battle with him, I actually lost in the Indigo Plateau because he wouldn't listen to me" The experienced trainer looked at Serena "Charmanders in general experience a change in their behavior, they become more aggressive as time pass and if they don't see their trainer as worthy then they won't listen"

"But that doesn't mean…" Serena tried to argue but Ash interrupted her by caressing her cheeks.

"It happened to me… and to my father, but he didn't have problems with his Charizard because he thought Red was strong enough to command him, and I know of other trainers that had Charmander and got problems when they evolved, is in their nature" Ash hugged Serena and caressed her hair "I don't want to push you to do this, but I don't want anything bad happen to you… so… if you believe that Burst won't ignore you then I'll support your decision of not battling Gyms"

Serena felt a small tug on her skirt and turned around to find Burst out of his Pokéball, he had heard everything they said and tried to tell them that he wouldn't do that to his trainer, the Sky-rider kneeled beside him "Are you trying to tell us that you won't change?"

Charmander gave her an affirmative cry and smiled at her, Fennekin felt guilty that her friends had to let an opportunity like this pass because she didn't want to ruin her fur… but she had always took care of her looks, preferring to be clean rather than battle and get dirty.

Froakie saw the conflicted look on Fennekin and approached her ( **"Is something the matter?"** )

The little fox looked at him and then to the ground deciding if she should tell him about it ( **"Well… the thing is… I don't really like battling because it ruins my fur, so my trainer promised me that I wouldn't battle… but she doesn't want to let my friends battle either so I won't feel left out"** )

Froakie tilted his head in confusion ( **"I think looks shouldn't really matter, friends stick together not because how one looks but because their bonds are strong enough, your friends already decided to not battle because they know you don't want to, and they care about you enough to not let you feel left out… I don't like getting dirty either, but I enjoy battles and getting stronger, I can always fix and clean myself"** )

Fennekin knew he was right, that she could always trust in her trainer to fix her fur and clean her like she did everyday… turning around she found Burst looking at her along with Fletchling whom had come out of his Pokéball.

After a moment Froakie continued ( **"No one can tell you what to do, you decide what you want from life… but sometimes to discover ourselves we need to step out of our comfort zone, personally? I think you are a great Pokémon with a hidden potential that only your trainer can bring out, you just have to discover your style of battling… after all you can't get dirty if you don't get hit"** )

She wasn't being fair to them, they were willing to forget the battles and just give it up for her, Froakie was right after all… tears threatened to spill from her eyes and feeling overwhelmed she ran away into the forest.

Serena saw this and followed her "Fennekin wait!"

Ash was about to follow when his Holo Caster started vibrating "Arrow, follow her"

He gave his trainer an affirmative nod and flew behind them.

"Hey Ash, how is everything going?" it was Grace.

"Hey mom, everything is… well… I had a little fight with Serena but now we are ok" He explained everything to her, and Grace understood Ash's point.

"Well I hope you two can solve this, anyway I saw on TV that tonight would be a stormy night, I wanted to ask you to take care of Serena"

This confused Ash slightly, while it was obvious that he would he didn't understand why this time was different "Is something wrong?"

Grace nodded at him.

* * *

Serena had returned Burst and Fletchling to their Pokéballs and was running behind her Fennekin trying to make her stop "Fennekin wait!"

The little fox was running straight not really seeing where she was going, in a moment she stopped feeling the ground and started rolling down a slope, Serena caught it and tried to cover her Pokémon from impact.

Froakie, who was following Serena along Arrow used his Frubbles to halt their impact.

Serena looked down her Pokémon with a small smile "Are you alright?"

Fennekin gave her a nod and then turned down with a saddened expression, Froakie just smiled slightly while Arrow congratulated him for saving them ( **"Hey Arrow go back to Ash and tell him where we are before he gets worried, I'll stay and protect them if necessary"** )

( **"Ok then I'll be back!"** ) Arrow flew back to his trainer while Froakie went down the slope to check on the girls.

Serena noticed the little frog-like Pokémon "Thank you so much Froakie, you really saved us"

Fennekin smiled at him ( **"Yeah… thank you so much for saving Serena and me… I owe you one Froakie"** )

Froakie blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head ( **"It was my pleasure, please don't think that you owe me"** )

Serena stretched her hand patting Froakie in the head, which made him blush more, she was about to get up when a jolt of pain prevented her of doing so "My ankle… it hurts! What's the problem with forests and my ankle anyway?"

She was about to ask Froakie to get help when suddenly a lightning bolt pierced through the sky.

* * *

Ash was running through the forest trying to find Serena as soon as possible, now feeling guilty of the whole thing he remembered his conversation with Grace.

" _Serena has astraphobia Ash_ _ **…**_ _she freezes on stormy days if there are thunders, the louder the sound the worse she reacts"_

" _I didn't know about it… but why didn't she freeze when she saw Pikachu use his electric attacks?"_

" _Is different, subconsciously she knows that Pikachu won't hurt her, but you can't control nature"_

He spotted Arrow flying on the sky "Hey Arrow!" The flying Pokémon acknowledged his trainer and guided him to Serena.

He was getting near a slope when a lightning bolt illuminated the sky and a strong thunder echoed through the forest… followed by a piercing scream "Serena!"

Ash saw Arrow fly down the slope were Serena was trembling and hugging herself, he quickly ran down not caring if he hurt himself, sliding to his girlfriend's side he quickly enveloped in his arms "Serena is ok… I'm here and nothing will happen to you"

Serena acknowledged Ash's voice and turned to him with tears streaming down her cheeks "Ash… help…"

The dark-haired trainer felt his heart hurt seeing her so defenseless "Can you stand?"

The girl shook her head, unable to form anymore words due to the fear she was feeling. Ash picked her up bridal-style and looked around trying to find some kind of shelter, Froakie looked around too and found the entrance of a cave near them.

Ash saw Froakie pointing at something and found the cave, making his way to the entrance he asked Froakie and Arrow to check the place for any dangerous Pokémon that might be sheltering there too.

Froakie signaled Ash that it was safe and his trainer quickly went inside, soon the storm started to gain strength and the wind entered the cave, Ash felt Serena shiver and quickly took off his jacket to cover her, taking some bandages too from his backpack to tend Serena's ankle.

After inspecting the entrance Froakie thought of something, he quickly used his Frubbles creating a wall in the entrance, Arrow and Fennekin saw this and started throwing dirt to the wall, once it was covered Froakie applied another cap of Frubbles preventing it from collapsing and successfully covering their trainers from the thunderstorm outside.

"Thank you guys that was very thoughtful and helpful of you" said Ash to the three Pokémon, he wondered if Pikachu had gone to Dawn and gave her the note he wrote before dashing out to follow Serena.

Meanwhile in the PokéCenter:

Pikachu had delivered the message to Dawn and was about to dash outside and follow his trail when he was stopped by Lopunny ( **"Where do you think you are going? There is a storm outside!"** )

( **"I've traded attacks with legendary Pokémon before, a simple storm is not going to stop me! I have to find Ash and make sure nothing happens to him while the trail is still fresh"** ) Answered Pikachu.

Ampere shook her head and turned to her trainer, trying to tell her that Pikachu wanted to leave, Dawn understood and hugged Pikachu "I won't let you go out there alone! Ash would kill me if something happens to you… Ampere, Lopunny please help me"

Lopunny tried to talk Pikachu, but he refused to listen to her, telling her that he would follow his trainer, the rabbit Pokémon was getting angry with her crush for not listening when Ampere walked to them.

The female Pikachu looked at the male one ( **"Do you really think that Ash is so weak that he won't last without you? Are your friends that bad that you can't trust them with his safety?"** )

Pikachu looked at her as if she was crazy ( **"Of course I trust my friends! And I know that they are strong enough to protect him"** )

( **"Then believe in them, they will come back soon, and if they don't then surely Ash will be smart enough to find a place to shelter from the storm, so stop being a brat and calm down!"** ) Said Ampere not willing to get a no.

Pikachu just sighed and turned to Dawn making body signs that he wouldn't leave anymore, he knew that Ampere was right and he needed to trust his friends this time.

Lopunny felt a small ache in her chest when she noticed how quickly Ampere had convinced Pikachu to stay… like she knew what to say to calm him down… something she couldn't achieve.

With Ash and Serena.

Ash was trying to calm his girlfriend while his Pokémon gathered what little they could from the cave, Fennekin could feel her fur getting dirty but right now was not the time to think about herself, she had gotten her trainer in problems once more and it was her fault.

Finding some twigs she was tempted to chew them but simply shrugged the urge and gathered whatever she found that could burn, Burst and Fletchling came out of their balls, feeling their trainer's distress and suddenly the whole place felt warm, Fennekin just chewed on a twig and looked at him ( **"That renders my job useless… oh well, I got some snacks now"** ).

Charmader's tail was illuminating the whole place, Froakie thanked him for coming out and Burst just nodded at him, turning to his trainer he saw the fear on her face ( **"I wish I could be strong enough to help her somehow… maybe with a Sunny Day attack…"** )

Froakie shook his head slowly ( **"The best we can do is give her company and help Ash making sure she is warm, comfortable and calm"** ) Burst understood and moved near the two trainers.

Ash thanked him and turned to Serena, her eyes seemed to be lost into the nothingness and only fear appeared whenever a thunder was heard "Don't worry my princess, you will be fine… everything will be alright"

Serena felt herself relax in the arms of her boyfriend, coming back to the real world to enjoy the warm and caresses that Ash was giving her, feeling her fears go away as he smothered her with kisses and sweet words.

She looked up into his eyes "I hate feeling like this… weak and pathetic… I really hate it" her soft words reached her boyfriend's ears as her eyes filled with tears.

"Is ok Serena, everyone has something they fear… I don't think it makes you weak or pathetic" He kissed her lips softly for a moment and looked into her eyes again "You will be fine, I'll stay with you so you have nothing to fear"

The Pokémon just observed their trainers, Serena's team was glad to see that she was feeling better now, while Ash's team was relieved to see that everything was getting better.

Just then a weird sound caught everyone attention, turning to some stones in a corner they saw that a Pidgey had took shelter in the cave, Froakie felt ashamed that he hadn't noticed him and approached slowly to not startle her.

( **"Hello there, we are sorry to have crashed in your shelter, we just wanted to escape the storm"** )

Pidgey nodded at him and looked at the humans ( **"Are they your trainers?"** )

Fennekin approached the bird Pokémon ( **"Yes, the girl is Serena and the boy is Ash, we are trying to keep them warm"** )

( **"Ok then… actually I'm glad you guys don't want to fight, I hurt my wing trying to escape the storm and I can't move around too much"** )Showing them her wing, she got closer to Burst trying to get warm ( **"Do you mind?"** )

Burst shook his head and let the female Pidgey near his tail.

Serena saw Pidgey's hurt wing and tried to move closer, telling Ash that she would be ok "Can I have a look to your wing? I might be able to fix it for you"

Pidgey turned to the human and was hesitant to do so, but she saw the sincerity in her eyes and the small nods of agreement from the others and moved closer.

Serena saw that it wasn't that bad, just a sprained wing that needed some rest, she took a potion bottle from her bag and applied it to the wing, making Pidgey cringe at the cold feeling.

Once she was done applying the medicine, Pidgey moved a bit her wing and noticed that it didn't hurt that much anymore ( **"Hey, thank you!"** )

"You are welcome!" Serena smiled at the little bird Pokémon, she couldn't understand what Pidgey had said but her guess wasn't that off.

Another thunder echoed through the forest and Serena yelped, going back to her boyfriend who hugged her tightly and caressed her hair softly "Everything is ok honey, nothing to worry about"

Serena looked at him and smiled relaxing once again, Ash took his backpack with one hand and asked Froakie to distribute the food equally while he let Aron and Squirtle out to get some food too.

Fennekin watched the frog Pokémon give food to everyone, even the wild Pidgey, and thought to herself ( _ **"He is so kind… not letting even wild Pokémon starve, he took a portion of his food to make sure there was enough for everyone"**_ )

She stood up and pushed her food near him, sitting at his side, Froakie saw this and tilted his head ( **"Something wrong? I didn't get the wrong can did I?"** )

( **"Oh no you didn't, I just wanted to thank you for everything… you were right, I need to stop being so selfish and think about the whole team… It doesn't matter if I don't battle, my friends deserve their chance"** )

Froakie blushed slightly which made Fennekin giggle a bit, the frog Pokémon then turned to their friends and said ( **"I don't think you were being selfish, I don't really know you that well… but I think that your friends are willing to do anything for you just like they believe you would for them, and that is because they trust you and care for you… that tells a lot about you"** )

Fennekin watched her friends interact with each other, neither Fletchling nor Burst looked at her with malice, instead they looked curious about her talk with Froakie ( **"I know what to do now… the problem will be making my trainer know"** ) She turned to her new friend and licked his cheek, his skin feeling funny but strangely nice ( **"Thank you Froakie, you are a nice friend"** )

The frog Pokémon turned a red scarlet that Fennekin noticed and enjoyed, it was the first time that she met a Pokémon that behaved like that around her, it gave her a strange feeling that she had never felt before.

Looking at her trainer Fennekin noticed that she was sleeping already, with a peaceful smile and enjoying her mate's warm, Ash was sleeping too, maybe they were tired of running around all day… looking at Burst she muttered ( **"Hey Burst, thanks for keeping us warm"** )

Burst gave her a thumbs up ( **"No problem pal, let's get some sleep too"** )

Everyone agreed and prepared to sleep, Pidgey got close to Fennekin ( **"Is your trainer always that caring?"** )

( **"Yes she is like that to any Pokémon, it doesn't matter if is a trained or a wild one she cares the same for them"** )Answered Fennekin while laying down next to Froakie, who had laid down already.

Pidgey looked at the girl once more and whispered to herself ( **"It might be nice having someone like that…"** )

Meanwhile in the PokéCenter

Pikachu was looking out of the window he knew that it was late already and that his friend had probably took shelter somewhere in the forest, that didn't disperse his worries though.

Lopunny woke up to see her crush staring outside, she wanted to talk to him, comfort him and tell him that Ash would be ok just like Ampere had done, but she didn't know what to say exactly… what if she said too much?

She was about to get up when Pikachu turned around and got down the window, Lopunny hadn't noticed that Ampere was awake too.

Ampere walked to Pikachu and pushed him to her fluffy pillow, just for tonight she would share it ( **"Come on Pikachu you need to sleep, I'll let you sleep in my wonderful pillow just tonight"** )

Pikachu shook his head and looked at his friend ( **"You really know how to push my buttons"** )

( **"I'm an expert at pushing buttons! But you really need to sleep"** ) She tackled him to the pillow making him lay on his stomach, he was about to get up when Ampere jumped up on his back, not letting him get up.

Pikachu tried to shake her off but it was useless, he didn't want to hurt her or make noise, so he just let her be and decided to close his eyes. Ampere looked at him and after a few moments noticed that he was already sleeping ( **"Poor guy… he must have been so worried about Ash"** )

She let herself fall to the pillow and was about to go sleep with Dawn on her bed when suddenly Pikachu's tail prevented her from getting up, she turned around and saw that he was still asleep ( **"Jerk… how dare you try and sleep with a lady… I'll give you hell tomorrow"** ) said Ampere while laying down and letting sleep take her.

On Dawn's bed Lopunny had seen everything, she went to her trainer's side and cuddled with her, feeling tears spilling from her eyes ( **"What's going on…"** ) She muttered to herself before falling asleep.

Morning came and the sun filtered through Dawn's window, Lopunny woke up and moved her trainer to wake her up too, Dawn's eyes opened and the coordinator noticed that it was morning already, she remembered that Ash and Serena had sleep outside and got up quickly.

Just as she was about to wake Piplup she noticed Lopunny looking at something, following her gaze she was surprised to find Ampere not just sharing her pillow with Pikachu, but she was cuddling him too, their tails were actually intertwined.

Looking at her Lopunny she could see the sadness on her eyes, they once again looked at the two Pikachu and asked themselves the same question… When had Ampere and Pikachu gotten so close?

With Ash and Serena:

Ash was the first to wake up, noticing that Serena was still asleep, he checked her temperature to make sure that she didn't catch a cold, but thanks to Burst they had been able to sleep warmly.

"Wake up sleeping beauty, we need to go back"

Serena heard her boyfriend's voice and stirred a bit, only to get cuddle even more and hide her face on his chest "Five more minutes' sweetie"

Ash chuckled a bit and kissed her forehead "If you don't wake up then I'll just carry you to the PokéCenter"

"Don't you dare Ash!?" She opened her eyes and glared playfully at her boyfriend.

Their Pokémon heard the noise and started waking up along with the wild Pidgey, turning to the entrance Froakie used Water Pulse and started removing the makeshift wall, showing the bright sun.

Serena stood up, noticing that her ankle didn't hurt anymore she turned around and smiled to Ash "Thank you for being here for me… it meant the world to me"

Ash smiled at her and hugged her "You mean the world to me, I'm glad I could help you" Serena returned the hug and gave him a peck on the lips.

Serena then looked at him with a big smile "You know? That was our first fight"

The black haired trainer chuckled a bit "I hope this is the last one too… I don't like fighting with you"

"Me neither"

They started walking back to the PokéCenter with their Pokémon in tow, when Pidgey flew to Serena's shoulder.

"Hello little one, something wrong?"

Pidgey nuzzled her cheek and flew a few meters away from her, facing her with determination.

"I think she wants to go with you Serena, Pidgey is challenging you to a battle"

Serena gave her boyfriend a small nod and took her Pokedex out, she was about to call Burst when Fennekin stepped up "Fennekin… you want to fight?"

The small fox Pokémon gave her trainer an affirmative bark and looked at Pidgey, Froakie had told her that she just needed to find her own battle style, one where she didn't have to get hit and dirty… that would be her new goal, be strong and graceful.

"Alright then, let's fight!"

* * *

 **And that marks the end of this chapter!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I certainly had fun writing it.**

 **Next time our heroes will have their first Gym battle and start moving again. Some new and old enemies will show up too, keep tuned because this story will be continued!**

 **And Don't forget to Review!**


	7. First Badge! - Master of the Sky!

**Hey there everyone!**

 **I'm glad to see that you guys have liked this story so far, I've been having fun writing it too and there is still a long way to go.**

 **I'm preparing a special chapter, it will be number 10 and I really hope you all look forward to it as it is going to involve a trip back to a certain place from a long time ago.**

 **I don't want to spoil you so I'll just leave you all hanging there, anyway I'll clear some points.**

 **1\. – I've been stuck for 6 chapters in the same places, and I feel those have been slow so I'll speed up things a bit.**

 **2\. – I didn't realize how hard it was to write a story where a lot of characters were involved… I feel bad for Aron and Squirtle not talking a lot… anyway, stats shown in the P.B.S are not limited, so they are not like in-game**

 **3\. – I've been aiming for 100 favorites and/or followers and I'm glad to see that I'm half the way there as Reviews don't really reflect how many of you actually like this story… still reviews are cool, so keep writing me whatever is on your mind about any chapter.**

 **4\. – The MOST important of all… I like cookies!**

 **And now that the important things are explained, let's go on with the story.**

* * *

 **First Badge! – A Master of the Sky!**

Ash and Serena were walking back to the PokéCenter holding hands while their Pokémon greeted the new addition to Serena's team, Pidgey.

Fennekin walked along Froakie enjoying a nice chat about his time looking for a trainer, it was the first time that she met a Pokémon with the discipline of a ninja. She had met other Froakie and they were very active, playing around with Chespin or fighting with them, none of them were as quiet or disciplined as this one and she liked that about him.

"I'll be transferring Pidgeot, he trained his flock so he would know a good way to make your Pidgey and Fletchling faster and stronger" Ash looked at both bird Pokémon flying near the group.

When Pidgey learned what Serena's goal was, she instantly liked the girl even more, being one of the fastest Pokémon in the sky was a nice dream for her.

"You know… I'll nickname my Pidgey…" At hearing her trainer's words Pidgey flew to her shoulder eager to know her new name "…How about… Vento" Ash looked at her while Pidgey tilted her head "Like the wind… Vento will fly fast and free"

Pidgey seemed to like the idea and chirped happily, Ash chuckled a bit "It seem to like it"

"I'm glad" answered Serena.

After a few minutes of walking they could see the backyard of the PokéCenter, Dawn was there with Ampere, Lopunny and Pikachu "Hey guys! I'm glad you could make it back"

Serena thanked her friend and Ash greeted his Pikachu, apologizing for leaving him behind. It was in that moment that the honey-blond girl noticed a slight tension between Ampere and Lopunny.

"Hey Dawn…" getting close to the coordinator she asked in a hushed tone "…did something happen between Ampere and Lopunny? Is like they are avoiding each other"

Dawn let a sad sigh escape her lips "Actually…"

 **Flashback:**

 _Dawn and Lopunny looked at Ampere stir and open her eyes, the female Pikachu scanned the room not paying attention at the strange but comfortable warm at her side and spotted her trainer and friend looking at her, tilting her head in confusion at Lopunny's saddened expression and Dawn's concerned one, she stood and tried to walk to them when she felt a little tug on her tail, looking over her shoulder she noticed that her tail was intertwined with another one._

 _Looking at her left Pikachu was still sleeping peacefully, it dawned on her at that precise moment… She had been cuddling with her friend and Lopunny had seen them!_

 _Dawn just took Lopunny on her arms "Ampere, please wake Pikachu up…"_

 _Ampere wanted to apologize to her friend but Lopunny just turned away "Ampere… please hurry up… we will talk about this later" The yellow Pikachu nodded slightly at her trainer and watched her walk out of the room, she turned to Pikachu and shook him softly (_ _ **"Pikachu wake up"**_ _)_

 _(_ _ **"Just five minutes mom…"**_ _) Pikachu turned on his back._

 _Ampere giggled slightly but then remembered what happened (_ _ **"I'm not your mom… you have to wake up"**_ _)_

 _Pikachu opened his eyes (_ _ **"Hey there Ampere, thanks for yesterday"**_ _)_

 _(_ _ **"No problem, what are friends for?"**_ _) Ampere then walked to the door (_ _ **"Dawn is waiting for us"**_ _)_

 **Flashback End:**

"…And that's what happened, after that we came here to wait for you guys, Ampere has been trying to talk to Lopunny but she keeps avoiding her" The coordinator looked at her Pikachu.

Serena just shook her head "I'm sure is a misunderstanding… but Dawn… even if it wasn't and they ARE getting closer, I think is up to Pikachu to decide if he wants Lopunny or Ampere, is not like we can force him to stay with Lopunny just because she likes him, it wouldn't be fair on him"

"I know… I'll talk with them later"

"And I'll have a talk with Ash and Pikachu, is his Pokémon, he should be aware of these things too… but for now let's just prepare for the day" Said Serena walking into the PokéCenter.

A few hours later everyone was ready and heading to Santalune's Gym.

"I can't wait to battle Viola, I heard from Alexa that she is a strong opponent" Commented Ash to the girls.

Dawn just giggled at his enthusiasm while Serena just shook her head slightly "I think I'll have Fletchling, Pidgey and Charmander fight… Fennekin seems ok with battling too but I don't think she wants to do Gym Battles"

Fennekin had tried to tell her trainer that she wanted to let her friends' battle and get stronger, and while Serena managed to understand this, she knew that her friend wouldn't battle… for now at least.

Once inside the Gym, they were greeted by Alexa "Hey Ash, nice to see you again"

Ash walked to her and greeted back "Hey Alexa! Is nice to see you too" Serena and Dawn walked to them and the reporter started teasing Ash.

"Two girls? You are such a ladies-man huh Ash?"

"Hahaha nope, Serena is my girlfriend and Dawn is like a little sister to me"

"Wow… so you got a girlfriend… well any friend of Ash is my friend, you are welcome to my sister's Gym…" Looking at Ash with anticipation she asked "… You are here to battle my sister right? I'll make a coverage of Sinnoh's champ first battle!"

Ash just chuckled slightly, a door behind Alexa opened and revealed Viola "So you are the guy Alexa was talking about? How about making this an interesting battle?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Let's have a 6 on 6 battle! You have a full team right?" asked the excited gym leader.

Ash recounted his team _"Pikachu, Froakie, Pidgeot, Fletchling, Squirtle, and Aron"_ after confirming he had all 6 of them he stepped to the battle field "I'll do it then!"

Dawn took Serena's hand and asked Alexa if there was any room they could use, the girl was confused but guided them to the bathroom anyway.

"Ash's battle is about to begin Dawn!"

"I know, but I think we need to cheer him properly…" Serena tilted her head while Dawn took a set of clothes from her bag, which the sky rider in training recognized instantly.

After a few moments Ash's match was about to begin when all of a sudden he heard Dawn and Serena on the benches cheering for him with a very red face, turning around he couldn't pry his eyes off of Serena. She was on a cheerleader outfit like Dawn, showing her delicate curves and long legs…seeing her trying to cover herself made her look even more cute.

Viola couldn't resist the urge to laugh at his flushed face "This is rich! The champ has been tamed, now this fight should be easier to win!"

The black haired trainer shook his head to get out of his stupor "Don't think about it! Now I have even more reasons to win!"

Viola put her camera in front of her while Ash took his PokéDex " **Lets Fight!** "

Just like Ash's PokéDex, Viola camera´s had a P.B.S integrated, once everything was set the battle began.

"I choose you Surskit!"

"Go Aron!"

"Surskit let's start with Ice Beam on the floor!"

The bug Pokémon did as told and covered the field in ice, Aron looked at Ash who just stood there waiting patiently.

"Now Surskit get close and use Water Pulse!"

Just as Surskit was about to release his attack Ash gave his first command "Aron use Autotomize into Protect and then use Rock Tomb!"

Aron did as told and felt his body get lighter, using his just before the Water Pulse hit him he used Protect, effectively canceling the attack and countering with his own Rock Type move.

"Surskit evade and use Aura beam!" The small Pokémon moved out of the way and after getting to a safe distance attacked.

"Aron evade, use the stones to get close and use Heavy Slam!"

The Iron Type Pokémon moved out of the way once more, and using the rocks on the field it got close to the Surskit at an impressive speed.

"Get out of there Surskit!" Viola panicked but it was useless, Surskit was hit by the Iron type move and the P.B.S showed a big decrease on her Pokémon health points. "Surskit, get close and hit him hard with your Water Pulse!"

The small bug type did as told and got close, preparing to attack, Viola saw that Ash had no intention to let Aron evade and instead had a smirk… "Oh no! Surskit cancel the attack!"

But it was too late, the P.B.S showed a successful impact and Aron's HP decreased a lot, but not enough to put him in danger "Now Aron use Metal Burst!"

With no way of evading, Aron hit on his mark, effectively weakening Surskit, the P.B.S showed Viola a sign that said **Choose your next Pokémon**.

"That was a great battle Surskit, thank you… Let's go Pinsir!"

Ash returned his Pokémon and took another Pokéball out "Go Squirtle!"

On the benches Dawn and Serena continued cheering him on "Go Ash you can do it!"

 **Fight!**

"Alright Pinsir begin with Sword Dance into Superpower!"

"Squirtle use Withdraw into Protect and then Hail!"

The turtle Pokémon went inside his shell and a sphere covered him just in time to protect him from the incoming attack, he was launched into the air with no damage and used Hail, effectively slowing down the enemy Pinsir.

The bug Pokémon had problems with the field as it was still covered in ice for the most part, and now the cold was definitely bad.

"Pinsir use Earthquake to crack the ice on the floor and then attack with Guillotine!"

"Squirtle use Ice Beam!"

Pinsir stomped the ground effectively breaking the ice and giving him more balance, Viola saw that Pinsir wouldn't have time to use his second move before Squirtle fired "Cancel the Guillotine and evade that Ice Beam!"

The bug Pokémon did as told and evaded "Now use Slash!"

Squirtle didn't have time to react and was hit directly, his HP just slightly above the 50% mark.

"Nice one Pinsir, now use Quick Attack into Slash once again!"

"Squirtle use Withdraw into Protect once more and counter with Blizzard!"

The turtle Pokémon went inside his shell once more but he wasn't fast enough to use protect, Pinsir struck him once more and the P.B.S showed Squirtle's HP just above the 5% mark.

The strike had sent him flying once more, making a colossal effort he got out of withdraw and used Blizzard, striking back the bug type Pokémon.

Viola's Pinsir was now just at 10% of his health, Squirtle braved through the pain and stood up defiantly looking at his trainer, earning the Bug type's respect.

Ash saw the determination in his eyes "You can do it Squirtle! We have been through a lot, I know you are stronger than this, I believe in you!"

Squirtle smirked and took out a new pair of black sunglasses, similar to the ones he had worn some time ago. The turtle like Pokémon remembered a promise he had made with his starter comrades in Kanto a long time ago… to grow stronger and be the best of their kind… he remembered Charizard's performance on TV in the Lilly of Valley, the spirit of a Dragon… even if he himself wasn't one it was a kind of pride he admired from the Fire type.

Squirtle turned at his opponent once more…

"Pinsir, finish this with Guillotine!"

… Even if he wasn't like Charizard… he would have the pride of a Dragon!

Just before the attack could connect, Squirtle's body started glowing.

Ash witnessed as one of his oldest friends obtained a new strength, the light died and showed Wartortle, thinking fast he ordered his new Pokémon "Evade!"

In the last moment Wartortle got out of the way and before Ash could give another command it started glowing a bright green, the trainer noticed that a new move had appeared on the P.B.S

"Wartortle use Dragon Pulse NOW!" it released the energy and struck the Bug type from a close distance.

Viola saw that her Pokémon had been weakened and smiled, returning her Pinsir "You did an outstanding job there, thank you Pinsir"

Ash ran to his Pokémon and hugged him, congratulating him along with Pikachu for evolving "That was amazing Wartortle!"

(" **Thank you guys!"** )

After a few moments Ash was back in his side of the field.

Viola smirked and showed her next Pokéball "This is one of the best battles I've ever had! But now is time to get into game!"

"Go Butterfree!"

"Comeback Wartortle… go Arrow!"

 **Fight!**

"Butterfree start with Stun Spores!"

"Arrow evade and use Acrobatics!"

Viola's eyes widened… that was a high level move… for a Fletchling to have that kind of move meant that it had been trained properly.

"Get out of the way Butterfree!"

Arrow saw his opponent trying to fly away but he was faster, catching up to him he started to make consecutive hits, leaving a considerable damage to the bug type Pokémon.

Butterfree recovered after a moment and was ready for another try "Use Stun Spore and then Gust!"

Butterfree released his attack, using his wings to spread the spores towards Arrow with a great speed, Ash saw this and smirked.

He had known that Viola was the leader of a bug-type gym, he had challenged enough gym leaders to know what to expect of most of them… that was one of the reasons that he had spent a lot of time teaching Arrow two specific moves.

"Arrow use Flame Charge!"

Getting a speed boost, Arrow flew towards Butterfree burning the spores on his path.

"Butterfree evade and use Psybeam!"

It evaded the attack barely and turned around and released his attack.

"Arrow evade with Flame Charge!"

Getting another speed boost the small bird Pokémon got out of the way and counter attacked, hitting Butterfree hard.

"That Fletchling is good… Butterfree use Tailwind into Bug Buzz!"

Tailwind made Butterfree faster than Fletchling, giving him enough speed to hit the bird Pokémon with his special attack, landing a critical attack.

"Arrow use Flame Charge again but this time combine it with Acrobatics!"

Everyone except Dawn was surprised at such command, Arrow concentrated and covered himself in flames once more, but this time instead of hitting normally he unleashed a flurry of attacks, leaving no time for Butterfree to evade or Viola to give a command.

The Gym leader let a frustrated sigh escape from her lips, this guy was really good, she had barely weakened one of his Pokémon while her team had suffered three loses already.

"Return Butterfree, you did a good job… you are definitely strong Ash, I'll use my stronger Pokémon now and I'll beat you with them!"

Taking another Pokéball from her belt she threw it into the air "Go Volcarona!"

"Return Arrow… Go Froakie!"

Fennekin saw her friend go into the battlefield with a serious expression and started cheering him excitedly, something that Serena and Dawn noticed.

Froakie heard his friend's cheers and turned to her with a slight blush giving her a thumbs up before returning his attention to his opponent.

The little fox blushed slightly watching anxiously for the battle to begin.

 **Fight!**

"Alright Froakie use Quick Attack into Water Pulse!"

Viola smirked "Getting the first strike now are we? Volcarona dodge and use Acrobatics!"

"Meet it with Aerial Ace!"

Both Pokémon started exchanging blows with great speed, but Froakie was a bit slower and got hit at the last moment, slamming hard in the ground.

"Froakie use Quick Attack into Smack Down!"

"Volcarona dodge and use Giga Drain!"

The frog-like Pokémon was faster and prevented its opponent from evading, throwing two stones and effectively hurting Volcarona's wings.

"Good job now finish this with Slash and follow up with Water Pulse!"

"Volcarona no! Use Giga Drain!" The bug type tried to move its body out of the way, but without her wings it was useless. She waited for Froakie to get closer and hit him but he had moved out of the way and struck from behind, were she couldn't attack him.

Unlike Viola's previous fights this battle had been faster, way too fast for her liking, Volcarona had been rendered useless when her wings were hurt. Ash had used his Pokémon abilities to their fullest without wasting movements.

The P.B.S once again showed that her Pokémon had fainted and was requesting for her next Pokémon while Ash congratulated Froakie.

Even Fennekin had run from where she had been watching and jumped around her friend excited for his victory, she was impressed by his strength.

( **"Nice fight Froakie! You were amazing… the way you evaded that attack and when you two exchanged blows!"** )

Froakie blushed slightly and scratched his neck embarrassed ( **"It was thanks to my trainer's quick thinking"** )

Fennekin saw him act all shy around her again and giggled, liking his cheek ( **"Think of it as a victory prize"** ) said the little fox winking at him.

Serena ran to her Fennekin and took her in her arms "You can't enter the battlefield like that Fennekin, let's go back to the spectators area"

The small fox barked happily and let her trainer take her back, Viola returned her Pokémon and noticed Froakie's absent expression "Maybe I should ask her to lend me her Fennekin, your Pokémon seems to be out of the fight already and he just received a kiss"

Ash chuckled at this while his Froakie used his Frubbles to cover his face.

"Go Scyther!"

"Come back Froakie… Go Pikachu!"

Lopunny watched eagerly from the stands as her crush took place on the battlefield with the look of determination that had made her fall in love with him a long time ago.

Ampere on the other hand wanted to cheer for him as loud as she could, it was her first time seeing him in an official match and it made her feel funny… it was the first time she felt like this.

But she knew she couldn't… Lopunny was already mad with her and she didn´t want to give her more reasons to get angrier at her.

Pikachu looked at the stands and spotted Ampere, giving her a thumbs ups she answered with one of her own, trying to not make it too obvious that she was happy but failing miserably.

Dawn noticed this along with Lopunny who had her ears down, the coordinator put a hand on her head and caressed her softly "Is alright Lopunny, let's cheer them on"

The bunny-like Pokémon agreed with her and started cheering for Pikachu.

On the battlefield the Electric-type heard Lopunny's cheers and smiled at her, waving a paw to her and Dawn, which made Lopunny feel better.

Ampere watched him return his attention to his opponent and get a serious expression, making her blush slightly without her noticing.

 **Fight!**

"Scyther start with Quick Attack into Slash!"

The mantis Pokémon moved fast and tried to hit the smaller Pokémon but it evaded without even receiving the order.

"Pikachu counter with Volt Tackle!"

"Dodge Scyther!"

Pikachu ran towards his opponent who tried to get away from him "Pikachu halt and use Grass Knot!"

Pikachu stopped running and followed his trainer's instructions, Viola was surprised by the as she wasn't expecting Pikachu to stop so fast, it showed that he had been trained outstandingly.

Scyther sustained a lot of damage from the Grass Knot "Scyther Pursuit and combine it with Slash!"

"Pikachu dodge with Quick Attack!"

The bug type followed Pikachu relentlessly trying to slash him with his blades but the small rodent Pokémon evaded every time by a very small margin.

"Pikachu use Iron Tail!" Following his trainer's order he used his tail to parry the incoming attack and struck his opponent on the chest, making him lose balance.

"Scyther!"

Seeing an opportunity Pikachu resumed his Volt Tackle. This took Scyther and Viola by surprise as they never heard Ash issue any order.

"Don't be surprised, Pikachu and I go way back so is obvious that he knows what to do next… you could say that our hearts are in sync"

The P.B.S showed Scyther's health under the 9%, the last attack had hurt him seriously, this could be his last attack and it had to count.

Ampere watched in awe at his friend, he had barely sustained damage and was winning.

Viola issued her last order hopping to at least defeat one Pokémon "Scyther use Reversal!"

A bright red light covered the Mantis-like Pokémon as he charged against his opponent, Pikachu smirked and put one foot in front of him, extending one paw in front of him.

"Now for a small trick we picked up along the way, Pikachu use Protect into Thunder!"

Ash turned to Serena to see if she was ok, but the girls was still cheering happily for him.

A blue barrier covered Pikachu, halting Scyther on his track with his cheeks already sparking

"Scyther no!"

The electric attack hit its mark, weakening another one of her Pokémon.

"Well Ash… I can't believe that I'm being cornered like this in a battle using my strongest team, it shows how strong your bond with your Pokémon is."

"Thank you Viola, you had been a strong opponent"

Viola knew it wasn't true, heck she had barely managed to weaken Squirtle before it evolved. Ash was strong and that was a fact "This is my last Pokémon… Go Heracross!"

"Pikachu return… Go Pidgeot!"

The gym leader had heard about this Pokémon from her sister, and while she had seen some Pidgeots on Sky Prixes this was the first time she witnessed such a beauty. She couldn't even contain herself and took a picture when it was resting in the floor.

Serena let her Pidgey out to see the match, and the little bird was impressed at seeing such a powerful looking Pokémon in the battlefield.

 **Fight!**

Viola could see that Heracross was nervous, like the mere presence of this Pidgeot was scaring him.

Pidgeot for his part watched with interest at his opponent, he didn't think Ash would send him to battle but this was a pleasant surprise.

"Heracross start with Rock Throw into Megahorn!"

Pidgeot stood there, just moving out of the way to avoid being hit by the rocks while Heracross got closer.

"Hurricane!"

Two flaps of his wings… that was all… this wasn't even a battle for Pidgeot, Viola saw her Heracross being thrown into the air and slamming hard on the ground, she had lost in a rather anticlimactic way… maybe if she had just asked for a normal 2vs2 or even the 3vs3 would have been better.

Alexa had never seen her sister be destroyed like that, she respected Ash but was expecting him to go a little easier on Viola… no that was selfish of her, Viola had gone against Ash with everything she had and it wasn't enough, there wasn't anything to be ashamed and now she knew where to improve.

Viola stared at her Pokéball, she had lost badly… Ash was impressive that was for sure, looking at the trainer who was congratulating his Pidgeot for the win she expected him to mock her for that last battle, but he just turned to her and extended his hand.

"It was a nice battle Viola, I hope we can battle again soon"

She looked for any sign of mockery in his eyes but found sincerity "I lost badly… but in the process I learnt some neat tricks, thank you Ash!"

Alexa walked to her sister with a small case in her hand "And now I present you the Bug Badge!"

Serena and Dawn walked to Ash "Nice battle Ash!"

"Thank you Serena"

Viola smirked at the couple "Are you sure you didn't want to show off in front of your girlfriend?"

Ash smirked while Serena blushed slightly "Maybe…"

"Ash!" Serena's blush intensified while everyone else laughed at her reaction "Anyway… I would like to request a battle too but…"

"Don't worry, I still have three Pokémon, want to fight?"

Serena's face lit in excitement and agreed, running to get changed fast begin her battle.

Pikachu was with Ampere, who was so impressed by his battling skills that she had forgot about this morning. Lopunny too was more interested in hearing Pikachu answer Ampere's question that she had forgot about it too.

Dawn was glad that they seemed to be better now.

Meanwhile in Lumiose City

A man with light blue hair could be seen sitting in the Soleil Café in a corner, drinking a cup of tea and with a Holo Cast on the table.

"You infiltrated the place successfully?"

"Of course I did! I'm the best of the best… anyway I'll be looking for clues about 'it' but these guys are way too secretive…"

"I'll talk to you later then, if they saw what we did then there is no telling what they will do to achieve their goals… be careful Jessie"

"You too, and don't forget to take care of those little fools for me too James"

After getting an affirmative nod from him she ended the call.

James raised a hand and asked a waitress for the bill.

Back in Santalune's Gym.

Viola and Serena were ready to begin, Pikachu was hanging in the rail beside Ampere, and at his left was Lopunny.

The bunny-like Pokémon tried moved her paw slowly, getting closer to his… Pikachu felt something brush his hand and startled him, making him fall from his spot.

Ampere turned to her left and watched him fall ( **"Are you alright? Maybe you are more tired than you thought"** )

Lopunny was blushing red hoping he hadn't noticed, Pikachu stood up and climbed to the rail, but this time at Ampere's right ( **"I just thought I felt something but it was my imagination"** )

For a moment the bunny Pokémon thought that Pikachu had glanced at her… had he noticed?

In the battlefield Viola had chosen her Masquerain while Serena chose Fletchling.

Alexa stood at the side of the field "This will be a 3vs3 battle, begin!"

 **Fight!**

"Masquerain let's start with Bubble beam!"

"Fletchling dodge and get close with Quick Attack!"

Fletchling dodged every bubble thrown at him, but what caught Viola's attention was that this one never went outside of Masquerain's range, it was like he could see every bubble and move out of the way before being hit.

For Fletchling this was easy, he was used to flying fast inside closed spaces, like Serena's room while she threw things at him… or trying to escape from her.

Masquerain was hit by the Quick Attack but recovered quickly "Use Water Pulse into Aqua jet!"

"Fletchling dodge and use Acrobatics!"

Masquerain threw his Water Pulse and used Aqua jet to follow his attack, Fletchling dodged the first incoming attack but he was struck by the second, he recovered quickly and followed Masquerain performing his own counterattack.

The hit was super effective and the P.B.S showed both Pokémon with less than half their health.

"Time to wrap this up, we might not know how to use Flame Charge, but we can do something else… Fletchling Quick Attack and combine it with Acrobatics!"

Viola saw Fletchling almost blur out of sight "Masquerain use Quick Attack to evade!"

Masquerain moved quickly but was followed by the bird Pokémon, it became an airborne fight, exchanging blows while dodging critical hits.

"Masquerain Water Pulse!"

"Fletchling use Protect into Acrobatics!"

Water Pulse met the barrier around Fletchling, negating the damage of the attack completely. The bird Pokémon charged at the Masquerain and started unleashing a flurry of attacks, but in its haste he didn't notice that Masquerain had unleashed another Water Pulse, hitting him from a close distance and being hit too.

The P.B.S then showed that both Pokémon had fainted.

"Return Fletchling, you did an outstanding job out there!"

"Return Masquerain, you were amazing…" turning to her challenger Viola smiled "…someone has been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend"

Serena smile turned into an impish smile "Well… there are more ways to spend time than just making out you know"

"Hahaha I like you girl! Now let's continue… Go Beedrill!"

"Go Vento!"

Viola admired the little bird Pokémon and took a picture "You have two bird Pokémon in your team… following your boy's steps?"

"Nope, I want to be a Sky Rider… but gym battles are the perfect way for my Pokémon to get combat experience and get stronger"

"That's amazing! Alright Beedrill start with Poison Sting!"

"Vento dodge and use Gust!"

Dodging with ease the incoming attack Vento positioned herself and countered with a strong air current, knocking Beedrill out of balance.

"Quick Attack into Wing Attack Vento!"

"Beedrill evade and use Twineedle!"

Twineedle hit his mark and hit Vento but she still went for her attack and struck the bug type with great force.

Vento took into the sky once more but suddenly her vision started blurring slightly… although thanks to her Keen Eye ability she still could still see without problems.

Serena noticed that a change of status appeared and her Vento was now poisoned.

"Beedrill use Poison Jab!" The attack struck the bird Pokémon and her health decreased dangerously under the 20% mark, with her life being drained every passing second from the poison.

"I know you can do it Vento, I believe in you!"

Vento had been alone for a long time, having lost her flock by a torment cause they weren't fast enough to get to safety… she had been the only one to make it out alive.

But this girl had been caring since the beginning, nursing her wing back to health and feeding her… there was no way she would disappoint her if anything she would repay her kindness.

Remembering that strong attack she had seen from Ash's Pidgeot in during his fight she quickly gathered her strength into her wings, standing despite de nauseating feeling.

"Beedrill use Fell Stinger now!"

"Vento!"

Giving a cry with all her might she gave two flaps to her wings, unleashing two blades of air from her wings that met Beedrill head on and knocked him to the ground.

Serena saw a new move appear in the P.B.S 'Air Slash'

After a few moments the poison finished its job too and Vento fainted.

The sky rider in training walked to her fallen Pokémon and picked her up, giving her an antidote and an orange berry "You did it Vento, I'm so proud of you"

The small bird chirped happily before being returned to her Pokéball, that might not have been the move she wanted to do but it certainly did the job.

"Well… it seems like today I've meet two amazing trainers, I must say I'm impressed by your skill Serena"

"Thank you Viola, but Ash has helped me training too so I can't lose, after all I have to show him that me and my team are amazing too you know?"

Viola chuckled while Ash blushed, Dawn laughing at his face "Aww you are so cute big bro"

"Shut it Dawn"

Viola threw a Pokéball into the air "Go Vivillon!"

"Go Burst!"

This took Viola by surprise, she had thought that Serena would only have flying types… of course! Charmander evolved into Charizard so maybe that was her goal! And the rare light tone of skin made it a special Pokémon, and so she did the most natural thing for her, and took a photo of the amazing Pokémon in front of her.

"Burst use Flamethrower!"

"Vivillon use Powder!"

Before Burst could launch his attack, the powder was already covering him, opening his mouth to release his Flamethrower he was hit by a sudden explosion in front of him, and the P.B.S showed his health at 75%

Checking her PokéDex Serena found her answer 'Powder: A Priority move that makes fire attacks explode in the face of the user'

"We need to be careful Burst"

The lizard Pokémon nodded at his trainer.

"Vivillon use Powder again and then Gust!"

"Dodge and use Dragon Pulse!"

"Damn it… Dodge Vivillon!"

Burst was faster and the attack struck fully, before the butterfly Pokémon could recover Serena issued her next order.

"Now use Ancient Power!"

"What!? Vivillon you had to get up and dodge!"

Vivillon managed to get out of the way and into the air once more "Use Powder and follow up with a Psybeam!"

Burst was covered in powder again, but this time Serena gave his Pokémon a smirk and turned to Viola.

"Burst show them that there is more to you than just fire attacks! Evade and use Air Cutter!"

This took even Ash by surprise, he didn't remember Burst knowing that attack… maybe Charla and Charizard had taught it to him, now he wondered what other moves the lizard Pokémon knew.

Vivillon had no way to dodge the incoming attack and was hit, the P.B.S showed a critical hit and his life decreasing slowly.

After the dust from the impact cleared it showed Vivillon fainted in the ground, Viola just let a sigh escape her lips and smiled "We did everything we could… you did amazing Vivillon" said the leader returning her Pokémon.

Serena hugged Burst "Thank you for the hard work!" The lizard Pokémon returned the hug and nudged his trainer's face. This was his first official battle and he had won!

Once again Alexa approached her sister and handed her another Bug Badge.

"Serena I'm proud to present you the Bug Badge, symbol of your victory in Santalune City Gym"

"Thank you Viola!" She received her badge and put it in her badge case.

Dawn returned from the bathroom and hugged her friend "Congratulations on your first victory!"

"Thank you Dawn!"

Ash hugged both girls and their Pokémon joined in the group hug.

All of them walked outside the Gym where they found Brock already there "Hey guys, how everything went?"

"Check it out!" Serena showed him her first Gym Badge which surprised the Doctor "Wow that is impressive, so Ash managed to convince you of battling"

"I wanted to do it from the start honestly… but I didn't want to make Fennekin feel bad…"

"Don't worry, we understand and I'm glad that you managed to reach an agreement with her"

All of them said goodbye to Viola and Alexa and started walking towards the PokéCenter, they would expend the night there and then travel towards their next adventure in the morning.

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Kalos.

A man hidden in the shadows watched his team of scientist run tests to their latest acquisition.

One of them approached him with a few papers in hand "Sir I'm glad to announce that we have been successful in all our tests and we believe this is an outstanding source of power"

"Good… now I want you to find out how to trigger that power, we will need all the energy we can gather"

"Yes sir!"

The man stood up and walked to the exit, followed by another person, a young man with a blue scarf "Giovanni left us something he wouldn't ever dream of… our dream to change this world is getting closer"

* * *

 _Prelude to the end…  
And when he fails, the world will fall into despair…  
…The tamed beast of the sea will succumb to the sacred fire…  
…And only the chosen by the ashes will bring order to those chaotic flames…  
…Reigning at the Chosen one's side._

* * *

 **And that's everything for this chapter!**

 **As you can see Serena managed to win her first gym battle, we will start moving forward in the story, new and old foes will appear sooner than you expect.  
Don't forget to leave your review in the box, tell what you thought of this chapter!**

 **See you all later!**


	8. Battle Chateau - Friendships!

**Hello everyone!  
We are approaching the special chapter more and more, and there are still some things to sort out before reaching Chapter 10.**

 **Thank you all for your reviews, I really appreciate them.**

 **Remember I asked if this story should move up a category? Well I'm making it an M-rated story, but this doesn't mean that I'll write sex scenes from the beginning and swarm the whole thing with them, or that it will be something hardcore, so yeah… No Hardcore Sex Scenes… but I'll try to make it worth your while whenever a scene like this pops up.**

 **Ash's current team: Pikachu, Nidoran (m), Froakie, Gastly, Charizard and Arrow.**

 **Brock's current team: Chansey, Sudowoodo, Onix (he caught another), Golem, Croagunk and Marshtomp.**

 **Dawn's current team: Piplup, Lopunny, Ampere, Pachirisu, Togekiss and Rufflet.**

 **Serena's current team: Fennekin, Burst, Fletchling and Pidgey.**

 **Anyway back to the story!**

 **I've been getting dangerously interested in Sonic's fics… just saying.**

* * *

The Battle Chateau – Friendships

Our heroes were on the move again, and this time they had reached Camphrier Town.

"We are here guys, the town with the feeling of deep age" said Brock while reading his Guide Book to read more about the town.

As the group walked on the streets to the PokéCenter they couldn't help but notice that some people wore expensive looking clothes or accessories.

"There seems to be a lot of wealthy people here" said Ash

Dawn nodded and looked around trying to find some kind of clue, it was Brock who finally broke their confusion "There will be an event in the Battle Chateau"

"What is that?" asked Ash.

Serena was the one that answered "A Battle Chateau is a place where people can have Pokémon Battles, but they have a policy of only letting wealthy and/or worthy trainers, famous people and such… Usually to enter you need a recommendation from someone who's already in the ranks of Marquis, Marchioness or above"

"It says here that during this event it is advisable to assist prepared, every battle will be fought for honor… and apparently nothing says honor for them more than money" Brock continued reading the guide book, not really paying attention to his surroundings.

"Battle for money? Is it similar to beating gym leaders or participating in any conference or contest?" asked Dawn.

"Not really… the more money the more noticeable you are for people in this event, every battle will award the winner with a monetary prize from the loser, so is not advisable for beginners to participate… it seems like during all week you will be able to have as many battles as you want, and if you reach a certain amount of victories they will give you the title of Duke"

As they entered the PokéCenter Brock bumped into someone else, he looked up from the Guide Book to the person who had blocked his path and got a big surprise "Oh my dear… I must be dreaming!"

There stood a tall girl with black long hair, a purple top tank with some yellow patterns in the sides and black pants with a golden belt "Hello to you too my handsome doctor"

Ash, Serena and Dawn saw Brock hug the girl and lift her from the ground, spinning her around "I can't believe you are here Lucy!"

Dawn and Serena made a double check and exclaimed "She is Lucy!?" They had heard from Ash about the girl, but never did they expect her to be this beautiful.

Ash gave them a slight nod while Pikachu waved a paw at her "Yeah! Nice seeing you again Lucy!"

"Same to you Ash, you've grown a lot since the last time I saw you" Lucy then turned to the girls "Hello there, as you know already my name is Lucy"

"My name is Dawn, is nice to meet Brock's girlfriend"

"Yeah, I thought he was lying… anyway I'm Serena, Ash's girlfriend!" said the honey-blonde girl with a smile while the coordinator agreed with her previous statement.

Lucy just laughed while Brock scolded them for not believing in him, the girls giggling and hugging each other mumbling "scary"

"Anyway, I'm surprised Ash… I didn't know you had it in you to get a girl yourself"

Ash scratched his cheek "Well… I've known her for a very long time…"

"I think Anabel will be disappointed" mumbled to herself the Pike Queen, avoiding being heard by Ash but not by Serena, who tilted her head in confusion but decided to leave it for later.

The black haired trainer proceeded to register his and Serena's room, Dawn registered hers and Brock was about to ask for one but Lucy stopped him "You can stay with me Brock"

"Alright then my beautiful queen, I'll stay by your side tonight!" said the doctor with a chivalrous tone, making Lucy blush.

Once they had settled their stuff Ash and Pikachu went to the training field to practice, Serena took her Pokémons too and followed him.

"Hey Serena, you are going to train too?"

"Yeah… My first race is in Cyllage City and I need to be prepared"

Ash let Charizard out "Hey buddy, could you help Serena train?"

Charizard gave him a thumbs up and approached Serena, Ash gave her a toothy grin "Use his help as you see fit, I can train with him later"

Serena gave him a peck in the lips as a thank you and walked away with Charizard in tow, Ash then released Gastly and Nidoran "Alright guys, let's see how long you have come with those new moves of yours"

Meanwhile Dawn was talking with Lopunny and Ampere about their first showcase "I want to use Togekiss and Rufflet, what do you think?"

Ampere gave her a thumbs up while Lopunny nodded at her, while things seemed to be normal the truth was far from it, Lopunny was weary of Ampere trying to steal Pikachu's attention, which had caused Ampere to strange herself from the male rodent.

The bunny-like Pokémon knew it wasn't fair to Ampere, she knew it wasn't her fault that Pikachu took more interest in her friend, Ampere liked to play around with Pikachu not caring if they were on dirt, grass, mud or water, unlike herself. Lopunny had been invited several times by Pikachu to play with them but she refused, not wanting to get dirty or just preferring to sit around and enjoy the sights.

Pikachu for his part had tried multiple times to ask her about Ampere, but Lopunny denied knowing the reason every time and tried to change topics just for Pikachu to walk away looking depressed.

Dawn watched her two friends for a moment studying them a bit, but her attention was caught by Piplup who had been playing with Pachirisu and almost dropped a few things from the night stand.

"Alright guys, let's go train!"

With Serena.

The girl had asked Charizard to use his wings and create a strong air current, Vento and Fletchling had to fly against the current to strengthen their wings. This idea was appealing to Charizard too, it would let him train his wings too, so he wouldn't have mercy on them.

Vento and Fletchling gulped at Charizard's smirk but got to it nonetheless.

"Now Burst… what to do…"

At that moment Fennekin barked at her trainer and ran to the opposite side of the field, facing Burst and challenging him to a battle.

"Fennekin? You want to battle against Burst?"

The little vixen barked affirmatively at her and got into stance, Serena didn't know what to make of it but still agreed to it "Alright then… just be careful"

( **"This will be the only way she will understand that I want to battle too… Don't hold back Burst, I need to discover my own strength!"** )

( **"You sure? I don't want to hurt you…"** ) the lizard Pokémon was glad that his friend wanted to take this seriously, but she had little experience in combat where he always fought against Ash.

( **Don't worry, I'll feel offended if you don't give me your all"** )

Burst knew she was right, it wasn't cool to hold back against an opponent, he would go all out against Fennekin, giving her a nod that was noticed by Serena, she understood that whatever they said it was over and now were ready.

"Alright, Burst begin with a Dragon Pulse!"

Fennekin saw it coming quickly, once the attack was within range she front-flipped above it, dodging the hit perfectly.

Serena was surprised by this, she never knew Fennekin could move like that "Burst use Ancient Power into Flamethrower!"

Fennekin saw the stones coming and dodged while jumping around, seeing the Flamethrower being directed at her she activated Protect to negate the damage.

Once again this had surprised Serena, Fennekin could actually battle!

Fennekin by her part couldn't believe that she was doing so good herself, all the training she had received from Froakie on speed had actually paid off, and learning that Protect from him certainly helped even more.

For two weeks she had snuck out during Serena's training or in the middle of the night along with Froakie to train, they would mostly train in speed and her Psychic powers, but the thing she looked forward the most was Froakie's _After-training Frubbles Treatment_ as she liked to call it.

Burst had mixed feelings… pride because the vixen Pokémon had actually managed to dodge his attacks with ease, and annoyance, because his friend was dodging every attack! How the heck had she managed to get this good was something he didn't know nor had time to dwell on as Fennekin dodged another attack and launched a Psybeam.

Serena took out her PokéDex and scanned her Fennekin for the first time since they started their journey, it showed that her speed had improved a lot, being faster than Burst and maybe Fletchling in a bad day, but what caught her attention was a pair of new moves on her set, at first her Fennekin had Flamethrower, Hypnosis, Tail Whip and Scratch.

But now she had Protect and Dream Eater, something she definitely didn't taught to her "How in heavens did she learn that?"

Meanwhile with Ash, Gastly was dodging Nidoran's attacks when he sneezed suddenly.

Ash stopped the training and approached the ghost Pokémon "Are you feeling alright? I didn't know ghost Pokémon could catch colds"

Gastly assured him that he was ok and they continued training.

Back with Serena, she was being more serious on her commands, Burst had also decided stop holding back and had begun to really try to hit Fennekin with no success.

Fennekin for her part was getting tired of dodging while Burst was getting exhausted of launching attacks, this certainly was a good training session for him, not only was his own speed improving but his aiming too.

At that moment Serena noticed Dawn walking to her and paused the training.

"I see Fennekin is doing pretty good"

"Hey Dawn, yeah she has improved a lot…"

Dawn had seen some of the moves Fennekin used to dodge "You know… the way she moves reminds me of a coordinator Pokémon" commented the Coordinator while taking a look at the moves Fennekin had on Serena's Dex.

"Really?" Asked Serena looking at her Pokémon again, the coordinator nodded and gave her a smile.

"What do you say if I help you? Let's have a battle…" She walked to Fennekin's side and faced Serena "…me and Fennekin against you and Burst"

The sky-rider thought about it and gave her friend a slight nod "Let's do this!"

"Fennekin start with Flamethrower!" Fennekin did as Dawn asked and launched her attack.

"Dodge and use Dragon Pulse!"

Burst did as told and dodged the vixen's attack, launching one of her own.

"Fennekin dodge and Hypnosis!"

Fennekin jumped out of the way and her eyes shun a light blue, Burst began feeling tired, his eyes closed and sleep claimed him "Burst you have to wake up!"

"Fennekin use Dream Eater!" The vixen's eyes shun a bright red now and Burst started to shake, after a few moments his eyes were swirly.

Fennekin couldn't believe it, she had won! Yipping happily she ran to Serena and jumped into her arms, the sky-rider returned Burst and scratched Fennekin's ears "I can't believe we couldn't hit you even once… I don't know how you did it but I'm proud of you"

Dawn approached the two of them and smiled "I can train Fennekin to battle like a Pokémon coordinator if you want, that way she could find new ways to use her powers and battle with them"

"That sounds great… but I don't want to separate from her…"

"Oh I didn't meant it like that! I wouldn't want to separate you two either, I'm just offering a way to teach her use her talent and help you with your gym battles, I've seen you are more experienced on training Flying types but have a hard time figuring a good training routine for Burst or Fennekin" explained Dawn.

Serena knew she was right and looked at her Pokémon "What do you say Fennekin? Would you like to learn to battle with style like a coordinator?"

Fennekin barked in agreement and Dawn cheered too "And if you battle Ash and win you will teach that dimwit that a Coordinator Pokémon can battle as well as any other!"

"So is a win – win for you huh?" asked Serena giggling at her friend's antics.

"You bet!"

The honey-blonde girl smiled and asked "How is your training by the way?"

Dawn let a sigh escape her lips "Well…"

She let out Togekiss and Rufflet "Let's try our combo once more!" She took out a small music player and put her selected track for the incoming Showcase, as Togekiss spun in the air above her trainer, Rufflet was supposed to use Sky Drop and pass between Togekiss and Dawn while they danced but instead hit Togekiss with his wings.

Togekiss barely felt the hit and rushed to help her friend, Dawn kneeled at his side too and checked him. Rufflet was getting exasperated because he was making no progress as always.

( **"Don't worry Rufflet, you will do better next time!"** ) Tried to cheer Togekiss.

Rufflet just sighed and looked at her ( **"I don't think I'm done for this…"** )

( **"Nonsense! You just need more work and you will do it, I'm sure!"** )

He was about to say something when something caught his attention, it was Fletchling and Vento flying in the sky at full speed while Charizard threw flamethrowers at them ( **"… they are so fast"** ) mumbled the bird Pokémon with awe.

Togekiss had heard him and looked at him in worry… surely he wouldn't… nah it must be just her imagination.

Dawn noticed Rufflet watching the other two flying types do their training but decided to stay quiet.

Serena looked at her Pokémon and Charizard and quickly ran to them with raised fist "Hey! I didn't tell you to start the dodging training yet!"

The aspiring performer saw her friend scold even Ash's Charizard and couldn't help but laugh "Who would have thought that even Charizard would be scared of her when she gets mad"

A few hours later everyone had finished training and were now getting ready to dine, Ash had finished changing while Serena was finishing a bath, Dawn along with Brock and Lucy were waiting for them in the dining area of the PokéCenter.

"So what are your plans Brock?" asked Lucy.

"Well, is mostly up to the guys if they want to stay and participate in the event or get going, I might be their friend but they are also my contractors, so I abide by their word" answered Brock professionally.

Dawn shook her head "Come on Brock you made us sound like tyrants, you know we also listen to you for anything, if there is something you want to do just name it, I'm sure Ash and Serena will be fine with it"

"We are"

Everyone turned to the entrance to see Ash and Serena approaching holding hands.

"You my friend offend me, Brock, do you really think I would say no to whatever it is you want to do or wherever you want to go? You are like my older brother for Arceus sake!"

Brock just laughed it off and shook his head slowly "Then why don't we enter the event at the Battle Chateau? I went there with Lucy this evening and found out that, for being a former gym leader, I'm automatically entitled as a Marquis"

Lucy smiled at him "And I'm a Marchioness for being a Battle Frontier, so I'm allowed entrance too"

Ash was not too thrilled about going there, he didn't fight for money after all… but he had just told his friend he wouldn't say no… "Ok, but is there a reason you want to go?"

Brock nodded slightly "This event only allows trainers with the rank of Marquis, Marchioness and above, this level of trainer are usually strong… but there is also wealthy people who are on those ranks just for heritance or their long time assisting the Chateau"

Lucy smiled and continued "That means that some of them are actually very well invested monetary talking, now I know you guys aren't interested on that kind of things, but…"

Brock scratched his cheek nervously "Well… the think is… when Ash told me about this job I thought it would be just so I could travel with him again, but he was serious and I kind of started to feel bad for being paid by my best friend… not like is a bad pay, I'd say is the opposite actually, it is too good for the little things I feel I do"

"Come on bro, everything you do is important to us, not only because you are our Doctor, but because you are our friend" said Ash.

"I know, the thing is… well… Lucy and I were talking before I came to Kalos and…" Brock seemed very nervous, Lucy took his hand and looked at their three friends.

"Brock and I decided to marry"

" **Eehh!?** " The three trainers yelled with disbelief, but it was Ash who recovered first and asked.

"How long have you guys been going out?"

Lucy smiled and answered "About a year and two months actually, we met again when he arrived at Pewter City, and I was trying to see the museum exposition held there, but there was a problem and my Seviper got sick, it was Brock who nursed her back to health and I learned that he wanted to become a Doctor, and after a few weeks we were dating"

Dawn giggled at the romantic story "That sounds more like it, that's a better love story about a reencounter than these two had"

Serena and Ash blushed at this and Lucy smirked "Why don't you tell us about it?"

"I'll give you a summary of the whole thing, the guy here saw her and kissed her in the lips and she kissed back" said Dawn with an impish look.

Ash looked at her in annoyance "It was your idea Mrs. Romance Expert"

Serena was blushing a scarlet red but tried to defend her boyfriend "It wasn't that bad, besides we knew each other already and… hmm…"

"A-anyway, you are going to take a big step guys, I'm happy for you two" said Ash trying to change topic.

Serena noticed his intentions and helped him "Y-yeah… have you thought of a date yet?"

"We are going to wait until your journey ends, part of the plan was to save money for the ceremony and get a nice and cozy place to live" answered Lucy

Brock looked at Ash at that moment "And I would be glad if you accepted to be my best man"

"I would be honored Brock" answered Ash who earned a congratulation from Serena and Dawn.

The sky-rider-in-training then looked at Brock "Then I suppose you want to take advantage of the event and earn as much money as you can, right?"

"It was Lucy's idea actually but I'm not against it if it helps" answered Brock"

The three trainers shared a look and then gave each other a slight nod "Then we will participate too, it will be good for training"

Serena and Dawn nodded slightly and decided to call it a day.

The Next day.

It was morning and everyone was getting ready to leave, Pikachu decided to go outside with Gastly and Nidoran to play a bit when he noticed Ampere walking out of her room.

( **"Hey Ampere!"** )

The female Pikachu turned to see her friend rushing to her, at first she was hesitant to stay but Pikachu had been faster this time and caught up with her ( **"Hey Pikachu, everything ok?"** )

( **"Not really… I feel like you've been avoiding me all this time… heck I don't even think I'm imagining it"** ) said Pikachu with his ears down.

( **"I just… I have been busy with practice and stuff…"** ) excused Ampere.

At that moment the Dawn's door opened again and Lopunny walked out with Dawn, noticing Pikachu talking with Ampere.

It was Nidoran who noticed Ampere's demeanor change and Lopunny's reaction at seeing her with Pikachu.

The male yellow rodent greeted Lopunny and Dawn, the second returned it with a smile "Good morning to you too Pikachu" at that moment she let Piplup out of his ball along Pachirisu who greeted their friends.

( **"Hey guys do you want to play for a bit?"** ) Asked Pikachu animatedly.

( **"Of course big bro!"** ) Agreed Pachirisu joining Pikachu's side.

Piplup decided to join too and looked at Ampere and Lopunny ( **"Are you coming too?** ")

Lopunny was the first to answer ( **"And get exhausted? Can't we just enjoy the morning breeze?"** )

Pachirisu just rolled his eyes ( **"Party pooper"** )

Pikachu chuckled but gave the younger rodent a slight punch in the head ( **"Don't be like that, if she doesn't want to join then there is no problem"** )

Lopunny smiled and thanked Pikachu ( **"Why don't you join me Pikachu? We could relax together…"** )

( **"Nah… sitting around is just not my thing, I'll go with the guys to explore a little…"** ) he looked at Ampere and smirked ( **"… are you coming? Or are you scared of getting lost"** )

Ampere smirked back at him and was about to accept when she felt Lopunny's piercing stare on her back and decided against it ( **"I think I'll pass… I hmmm I want to stay with Dawn and…"** )

Nidoran not being one to shut up interrupted ( **"Does this have to do with lady bunny not wanting you to get close to her crush?"** )

Everyone looked at him, but it was Pachirisu who made it worse ( **"So you caught on that too? Haha I wasn't the only one!"** )

Dawn observed the Pokémon start to get agitated, something was going on and she couldn't understand a word of it "Hey guys… something wrong?"

It was as if Pikachu's question was asked by Dawn and once again answered by Nidoran who looked at the Coordinator knowing that she wouldn't understand but still telling her ( **"Yeah! Every time Pikachu tries to talk with Ampere she ignores him or rejects him like some kind of pokérus, and every time this happens it seems like lady bunny is trying burn a big sign of 'go away!' on her"** )

Lopunny angrily denied this tried to make Nidoran to shut up but Gastly decided to talk too ( **"I thought you had noticed it Pikachu"** )

Pikachu didn't want to believe it, they were his friends, right? Then why would Lopunny make Ampere stay away like that?

( **"T-that's no true! I… I just… didn't feel like playing all those times"** )

Pachirisu stood in front of Pikachu and looked at Ampere, who had tried to defend Lopunny ( **"That's a lot of crap, Lopunny is afraid that Pikachu might fall for Ampere instead of her, that's why Ampere has stayed away, she doesn't want Lopunny to be mad at her"** )

It dawned on Pikachu all of a sudden, so that was all about ( **"All of this because… I can't believe it…"** ) he turned around and started walking back to his room.

Lopunny walked to her crush and tried to apologize but was interrupted by the male rodent ( **"Save it… I really don't want to believe that what t they are saying is the truth… I'm not something that someone can own just like that…"** )and with that he ran back to his room.

Dawn didn't know what they had said exactly, but the look in Lopunny's eyes and the worry on Ash's Pokémon had said it all "Oh my god…"

It was at that moment that Ash and Serena got out of their room, Pikachu was on Ash's shoulder but he was ignoring everyone, Fennekin was on Serena's shoulder not even aware of what was going on, she had never seen Pikachu look so serious before.

"Hey Dawn… do you know what happened to Pikachu?" asked Ash

"Sort of…" Answered the coordinator, Serena looked at her friend and her eyes widened.

Dawn nodded slightly at seeing her friend's look "yeah… Serena will tell you everything Ash… I have to talk with my Pokémon"

At that moment Brock and Lucy walked out of their room, Lucy was about to greet everyone when she noticed the tension in the air, it was Brock who decided to break the ice "Good morning everyone, are you ready to go?"

Ash and Dawn returned their Pokémon and nodded at him while Serena answered "Yeah, let's get moving"

The group started walking out of the PokéCenter and to the Battle Chateau, on the way Serena made her boyfriend stay behind the group out of hearing range and explained what she knew to Ash about Lopunny's crush on Pikachu, something that wasn't new to the trainer, and Ampere's closeness to him.

Ash could understand now why his friend was so pissed, he would too if Serena stopped talking to him because another girl was interested in him.

"Don't worry Pikachu I'm sure Ampere will talk to you again very soon, just don't lose hope on the girl you like"

Serena looked at Ash with confusion "Wait, are you saying that Pikachu likes ' _likes_ ' Ampere? Where did you get that?"

Ash just laughed it out "Come on Serena I've known Pikachu for a very long time, I know he likes Ampere like something more than friends because he wouldn't be this upset about her not talking to him… if it were another female he wouldn't care"

Now Pikachu was the one confused, Ash was right in that he cared about Ampere… but was it like that?

Meanwhile Dawn was walking in front of the group out of hearing range too, talking to Ampere and Lopunny "I don't know what happened back there, but this has to stop Lopunny, Pikachu has a right to choose"

Lopunny knew her trainer was right, she looked at Ampere who was looking at the ground in that moment and approached her ( **"I'm so sorry Ampere… I let my jealousness get the better of me and ended hurting you, Dawn is right…"** )

Ampere shook her head and smiled at her friend ( **"But you never asked me to stay away from him… sure your looks could have killed me in the spot, but hey! We are talking about your crush, besides I don't like him like that, he is just a friend"** )

Lopunny raised an eyebrow and tilted her head ( **"Is he?"** )

( **"Of course! He might be a good friend and very friendly, and maybe stronger than any other Pikachu I've known, trust me I know a few, and he might be good looking… and honest just like his trainer…"** )

Lopunny just listened Ampere's description about Pikachu and a small smirk graced her lips ( **"And yet you say you don't like him? Yeah I guess you are right… you love him"** )

( **"What? No!"** ) Denied Ampere strongly.

Lopunny just let a sigh escape her lips and smiled at her ( **"Is ok Ampere I'm not giving up yet, but I think you should be more honest with yourself too, you are absolutely smitten by him, otherwise you wouldn't miss being around him that much"** )

Ampere looked at her friend for a moment and thought about it ( **"But I don't like him like that… I'm not in love with him…"** ) then she turned around and saw him talking to Froakie and Fennekin animatedly, and couldn't help but notice a strange warm on her nose and cheeks ( **"…am I?"** )

(" **I won't give up Ampere… may the best female win his affection"** ) muttered to herself the bunny-like Pokémon

Dawn saw Lopunny look at her and give her a smile, the coordinator let a sigh of relief and smiled at her Pokémon too "I'm glad you girls could sort this out"

After a few moments the group reached the Chateau.

"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Hennessy and I welcome you to the Battle Chateau" greeted them at the doors a man with expensive-looking attire and formal speech "Are you here for the event?"

At this the group nodded and introduced themselves to the older man, who explained a few more rules to the event "Our big event will be hold here all the week, but that means that no one will be allowed to get out of the Chateau until everything is done with, We will provide you with a room and your meals"

"That's fantastic, I would like to enter then" said Ash.

Hennessy then asked them for their rank but when they announced that it was their first time his face turned into one of disappointment "I'm sorry for saying this but only Marquis, Marchioness and above are allowed to the event"

Lucy showed him her certificate as a Battle Frontier and the old man smiled "Oh my… that means you are above the rank of Gym Leader, which allows you to enter the Rank of Marchioness automatically"

Brock then showed him his certificate as the former Gym Leader of Pewter City signed by Mr. Goodshow "Another Gym leader, this is splendid!"

Ash took out his PokéDex and pressed some buttons, it then showed an hologram with his information as the champion of the Sinnoh League and first victor of the Kanto Battle Frontier "That is amazing young man, this year we will have very strong trainers after all… you are granted the title of Marquis too, but I'm sure that with your level of skills you will go up in the ranks in no time"

Dawn showed him her certificate as a Top Coordinator and winner of the Kanto Grand Festival, but Hennessy shook his head slightly "I'm sorry ma'am but those kind of achievements are just enough for the level of Viscount"

This disappointed the girl greatly, Serena was just granted the title of Baroness by Ash's recommendation but that wasn't enough either.

Now they didn't know what to do until Serena had an idea "Hey guys, you should enter the event, that will give me enough time to train with Dawn, and she still has to improve her recipes and work on a routine for her first Showcase"

"That's true, that way you guys get a week of training while we catch up" agreed Dawn.

"I don't know…" Ash seemed reluctant about being away from Serena, but she just giggled and kissed his cheek.

"This will help Pikachu get some time to cool down" added the Sky-rider in training. The raven haired trainer just sighed and nodded in agreement.

The group said their goodbyes and while Brock, Lucy and Ash walked into the building, Dawn and Serena went back to the road.

"Let's retrieve our stuff from the PokéCenter" said Dawn, this caught Serena's attention.

"Why?"

"Because we are going to the beach!" that was right, Ambrette Town was the next town, they could just take a bus and reach by the end of the night.

Serena then remembered that in Ambrette Town was a special place to train sky-rider too and agreed to the idea "Let's hurry up then!"

And with that both girls started running to the PokéCenter, anxious to see which kind of adventures would wait for them in the next town.

This story will continue!

* * *

Kanto Region – Cerulean City Gym.

"Misty you got a mail!"

Said girl looked at her sister and rushed to the door to see her with a letter in hand "Who send it?"

Her sister Daisy handed it to her and shook her head "I don't know, the front just have your name and our address"

Tearing the envelopment the girl started reading the letter and her eyes widened in surprise.

 _Dear Misty Waterflower:_

 _We would feel honored to have your presence in our beloved island to celebrate the sixth year of the Chosen One's victory and the world's salvation…_

* * *

 **And there you have it guys!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter, I'm sorry if it took me two weeks to update but as you know I'm planning something special for chapter 10…**

 **Anyway thank you everyone for reading, please leave your review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter.**

 **See you all later!**


	9. A little Adventure - A week without Her

**Hello everyone!**

 **I'm kind of disappointed that the last chapter had literally no review, but the fact that we are over de 70 favorites and 80 follows makes me happy, so everything is fine.**

 **Last chapter was… bad… sorry, I'm ashamed really and will be taking it down at a later time to make some fixes. But the good news is we are approaching chapter 10 and I think a lot of you already know what it will be about.**

 **Next chapter is going to be my longest chapter ever, and I really hope to do it right. Anyway, let's get down to the story.**

 **I want to thank my sister for helping me answer all your pm while I was hospitalized the last two weeks, worst days of my life… but anyway I hope you like this chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

A week without her – A little Adventure!

It had been three days since our friends had parted ways and while Ash, Brock and Lucy were battling in the Battle Chateau, Serena and Dawn were enjoying a good rest in Ambrette Town.

The last two days they had gone from visiting the Aquarium to checking the training grounds for sky riders in the mountains, it was the first time Serena had used a sky trainer suit and she loved it.

But today they were wondering what to do.

"Hey Dawn, I was thinking… why don't we go take a look at the bathing suits? That way we can enjoy the beach once Ash and Brock are done in the Chateau"

The coordinator looked at her friend and gave her an animated nod "Let's go swimming with them later then, swimsuits first!"

Agreeing with her friend, Serena followed Dawn to the shops to check out what kind of swimsuits they had.

Ampere played with Pachirisu and Piplup while Lopunny just enjoyed looking at all kind of accessories. The two female Pokémon had fixed their friendship, although the female Pikachu insisted that she wasn't in love with Ash's Pikachu, Lopunny and the others had begun to tease her about it.

The first time it was weird for Lopunny because she was teasing her friend with her shared crush, but after a few times her reactions were just too funny to pass. Pachirisu had apologized to the girls for the problems he caused too.

All in all, Dawn's Pokémon where slowly building their friendship back, and while the girls and their Pokémon enjoyed the trip to the shops…

Battle Chateau

Brock had finished another battle against an older man whom seemed upset for losing a big sum of money.

"Hey Ash, how are you doing?"

"Not good… I want to die… it's been three days!"

Brock just sweat dropped "I'm talking about your battles"

"I was hoping for a challenge, but most of the people in the event are just old timers or rich idiots who think that money can buy the strongest Pokémon" Answered the black haired teen, looking around once again he just let out another sigh "I really miss her"

Lucy approached the boys with a big smile, she wasn't expecting for this to be so easy "Hey guys, can you believe that I've earned almost eight millions?"

Brock hugged his girlfriend returning her smile "I've made four millions, those guys are definitely noblemen, there was this old lady whom didn't seem to care losing nine thousand Pokédolars against me"

"I've made ten millions, there was this rich boy that wanted to 'put me in my place' and we bet the same amount of money I had earned at the moment… I think he wanted to take me out of the competition…"

Brock and Lucy were impressed at their friend; while Ash had been moping around since the second day and complaining about Serena not being there, that certainly didn't stop the boy from winning against the wide variety of challengers that wanted a piece of 'Sinnoh's League Champion' and show him that Kalos was stronger… but none of them had managed to defeat him.

At that moment an old lady approached Ash "Hello young man, my name is Clara"

Ash stood from his seat and gave a slight bow "Nice to meet you ma'am, my name is Ash Ketchum and this is my partner Pikachu"

At that moment his partner climbed to his shoulder and greeted the lady, he had been quite bored in the past days, Gastly and Nidoran had apologized to him and he had forgave them, but there was nothing to do in the Battle Chateau to entertain themselves.

"I would like to request a battle with you"

"It will be my honor"

Taking positions both trainers, Ash took out his PokéDex while Clara took out her bracelet, and the P.B.S activated.

"Gastly I choose you!"

"Go my dear Turtwig!"

 **Battle Begin**

"Gastly lest start with Will-o-Wisp into Shadow Ball!"

"Turtwig evade and use Crunch!"

The ghost Pokémon sent two small balls of fire at Turtwig who tried to get out of the way, but Gastly moved the Will-o-Wisp so that it followed the grass type, burning him successfully, Turtwig felt a lot of pain but tried to tolerate it, he was about to turn and use Crunch but Gastly had been faster and the Shadow Ball hit him fully.

"Turtwig use Synthesis!"

"Gastly don't let him, use Curse and then Hex!"

The turtle-like Pokémon started healing himself but instead of the refreshing feeling of the grass type move, he started feeling heavy and it was hard to breathe, Gastly had successfully used Curse on him and proceeded to attack with Hex.

The battle didn't last long as Turtwig got exhausted quickly and the **P.B.S** showed that the grass type had fainted.

"That was a good battle young man, is been ages since these old bones had a taste of excitement"

"Thank you ma'am, it was great battling against you"

Brock took care of Turtwig and gave him back to Clara "This little one has been raised properly and has a lot of strength, you've done a wonderful job ma'am"

The old woman thanked him and petted her friend softly, congratulating him for the efforts.

Gastly and Ash saw this and smiled "You did well Gastly, thank you" the ghost Pokémon accepted the praise and returned happily into his PokéBall.

The trio of friends then parted ways with Clara, the woman waved a hand at them and was about to walk away when she noticed the Turtwig looking intently at Ash.

Ambrette Town

By now the girls had finished buying and were now preparing to get back to the PokéCenter "That was so good"

Serena smiled at Dawn and agreed with her "Yeah, it's been so long since I had the chance to buy so many cute things, even a new swimsuit"

"I bet Ash is missing you already, moping around and whining because he doesn't have his girlfriend" Dawn's commentary made Serena blush slightly.

"Is not like we spend every minute of every day together…"

As they were entering the PokéCenter something caught their attention, two men dressed in a very… weird clothes.

"…A lot of the fossils are ready to be turned into Pokémon, but the boss is convinced that there should be a DNA sample to revive an Aerodactyl…"

Serena had overhead the last part of the conversation but didn't say anything, once the two girls were in their room Dawn started unpacking.

"Hey Dawn… do you know what is an Aerodactyl?"

"I heard that is a fossil Pokémon, there should be info in the PokéDex" after taking her device she started searching for the ancient Pokémon " _ **Aerodactyl: This vicious Pokémon is said to have flown in ancient skies while shrieking high-pitched cries."**_

Serena took a good look at the Pokémon "It looks powerful… and dangerous"

"Yeah… but it says here that resurrected Pokémon has been slightly modified to inhibit their most dangerous and wild instincts, however is still advisable to not make them angry"

A strange sense of challenge invaded Serena at that very moment and her eyes showed a determined shine… one that Dawn wasn't liking at all "You are not thinking about getting one… are you?"

Serena just smiled at her and hugged her "Tomorrow you and I will be going to look for information about how to get and Aerodactyl"

The coordinator just sweat dropped "I don't like this…"

Next Day

It was early in the morning and Serena had woken up Dawn, they were now fully dressed and prepared to search for a way to get an Aerodactyl for Serena.

"Come on Dawn! The faster we start investigating the faster we come back!"

"Just a moment!" Dawn was retrieving her Pokémon from Nurse Joy "Why are you so interested in getting an Aerodactyl anyway?"

"Because it looks dangerous and fast… I like it!" answered the girl with a big smile.

The coordinator just shook her head slowly "I think being exposed to Ash for so long is really dangerous" mumbled to herself.

"Did you say something?"

"That I think it's really cool that you want an Aerodactyl that looks fast and dangerous!"

And with that both girls started walking to their first destination, the Fossil Lab.

Meanwhile in the Battle Chateau.

"Another day without her… I'm going crazy!" whined Ash while getting ready for another day of battles.

Pikachu and Froakie had started feeling weird too, and it was showing.

" **Hey Pikachu, do you want to take a quick snack from the bag?** "

" **Yeah! We can also invite the girls, Ampere will…** " the poor male Pikachu then realized that his friend wasn't there. " **Right… the girls are not here…** "

Froakie just patted his friend and gave him a berry from the Ash's bag " **I'm missing Fennekin too… is refreshing having someone to talk that shares your likes and can understand you** "

Pikachu took a bite to the berry and tought about it… he liked spending time with Ampere too, and they both liked a lot of similar things although they had their differences… " _ **Do I actually like her?**_ _"_

Ash saw his friends taking a snack and decided to take one too "You know guys, once we are out of here I'll take Serena on a date… I miss her so much!"

Ambrette Town: One hour later

Serena and Dawn had talked with the people from the Fossil Lab and they had told Serena that if she found a DNA sample from an Aerodactyl then they would be more than glad to revive it for her. One of the scientist had recommended to go to Glistening Cave because a lot of fossils could be found in the area.

So now our friends were riding on a Rhyhorn on route to said place when…

"I'm telling you, the boss said that we had to come back with that stupid Aerodactyl…"

Serena recognized the people as the ones that had been standing outside the PokéCenter the night before, but something about them gave her the creeps "Hey Dawn… let's try to not catch their attention"

The coordinator nodded and they both continued their travel, reaching the entrance of the cave a few minutes later.

The girls left their Ryhorn with a member of the rental staff in the other side and started making their way into the cave, which was covered with shining stones that illuminated the whole place.

"This looks beautiful… Ash would like this" said Serena.

Dawn smirked and teased her friend "You really miss him don't you?"

"Just a bit…" answered the Sky-rider with a light blush "Let's get going"

As the two girls entered the cave they started looking for something that could resemble a Fossil, they kept exploring the caves for two hours without much success until Serena noticed an entrance to another level of the cave and some people walking out of it, dressed exactly like the guys from before.

"Hey Dawn look… they are dressed like the other guys"

The coordinator gave her a slight nod "We should hide for a moment just in case… I don't like them"

Both of them found a small group of rocks near the entrance big enough to hide them, once there they could hear the commotion happening inside.

"I'm telling you that I'm not giving you more samples!"

"So you wanna play, huh Doc!? I can play too, tell me where the Aerodactyl fossil is before I play with your face!"

"Not gonna happen!" after a few moments the man with the fancy clothes started punching the scientist. The girls wanted to stop him but they were stopped when one of the guys took out his clothes, showing it was only a disguise, and entered the cave.

"I won't let you hurt him anymore!"

The guards at the entrance rushed into the cave to assist against the spy "

Dawn looked into the cave and took a good look at the man "No way!"

"What is it?" asked Serena looking at her

"I know that guy, he is James from team rocket!"

"Who?"

Dawn looked at her friend "I'll tell you later, let's help him out!"

Both girls got out of hiding and stood at with James "The twerpette... I mean Dawn!?"

The leader of the enemy group just snared at them "I don't have time for this shit, I'm out…" he looked at his grunts "… Lexi, Rex, you two take care of these pests and you better bring me that damned Aerodactyl" and with that he left through another exit.

"Of course boss!" the two of them said and stood between the group and their leader.

"Let's do this Rex, just like we practiced!"

"Sure!"

"To burn to ashes the filth of this world!"  
"To defeat the ugliness, that is our goal!"  
"To protect the people from their devious selfishness!"  
"And reach the peak of our greatness"  
"Lexi!"  
"Rex!"  
"Team Flare is preparing to ignite the night!"  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

At this, James was totally furious "How dare you… HOW DARE YOU!"

Serena looked at him concerned and confused, but she noticed that Dawn seemed angry too.

"Yeah how could you!?" yelled the coordinator at the duo, she looked at James and gave him a slight nod, then turned to Serena and whispered something that left her even more confused.

Dawn looked at Lexi and Rex for a moment and smirked, making a pose.

"Prepare for trouble!"  
"And make it double!"  
"To protect the world from devastation!"  
"To unite all people within our nation!"  
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"  
"And extend our reach to the stars above!"  
"Dawn!"  
"James!"  
"Team Rocket blast off at speed of light!"  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"  
"Se-Serena that's right!"

Finished the honey-blond girl very embarrassed of having to make a pose to say that silly line, it was James who turned to Dawn and smiled in gratitude "That was almost perfectly beautiful, but is not the same without Jess and Meowth"

"At least we showed them who the real deal is!" said Dawn extending a hand to give a high five to James.

Serena then interrupted the moment "Was that really necessary?"

"It was!" answered James and Dawn.

Lexi and Rex were annoyed now "How dare you, it took us a lot of time to come up with something as cool as that motto!"

"Yeah it was perfect!"

James just smirked at them and flicked his hair "I understand you… but is still an imperfect copy! Carnivine go!"

"Go Piplup!"

"Fennekin I choose you!" the small vixen had been training hard for this moment, she would make Froakie proud.

Lexi and Rex took out their Pokémon too.

"Go Mightyena use Dark Pulse!"

"Go Pyroar use Flamethrower!"

"Fennekin use Protect into Sunny Day!"

The fire Pokémon took both attacks head on negating all damage and the cave started to illuminate while she did a backflip behind his friend.

"Piplup use Whirlpool!"

"Carnivine use Solar Beam!"

The whirlpool hit both Pokémon and send them flying towards their owners as Carnivine released the powerful grass type move. The impact was strong enough to send Team Flare blasting through the roof of the cave and into the air.

"Team Flare has been set ablaze!"

Inside the cave a lot of the debris started settling down, Dawn and James walked to the scientist while Serena finished congratulating her partner, Fennekin had started becoming stronger, and Dawn's training was definitely helping a lot.

Just as she was about to return her, something caught her attention, while a lot of the stones were just common rocks, there were some that had peculiar patterns, she picked them up and examined them.

"Oh! I see you found an Old Amber, and that one is a Jaw Fossil to revive Aerodactyl and Tyrunt" said the excited scientist.

Dawn picked up another pair while James did the same.

The scientist examined them and exclaimed happily "That one, little lady, is a Sail Fossil to revive an Amaura, and the one in your left hand is a Dome Fossil to revive the ancient Kabuto"

The old man then turned to James and pointed to his set of stones "That, young man, is a Root Fossil to revive a Lileep and a Claw Fossil to revive an Anorith"

The man went to the entrance of the cave and turned to the youngsters "I got a lot of fossils for myself, so you guys can have those, if you come to the Fossil Lab I can revive them for you as a thank you for saving me from those runts"

With that the man turned around and walked out of the cave quite excited for the discoveries he had made.

Dawn turned to James and asked the big question that was in her mind for a while "Why are you alone?"

James turned to her and then looked around "Do you mind if I explain in a more… comfortable space?"

Both girls looked at each other and nodded slightly, the three of them walked out of the caves and just as Dawn and Serena were about to ask for their Rhyhorn James stopped them "I have something faster"

He took out a small cube from his pocket and threw it far from them, after it hit the ground a light similar to that of a Pokéball came out of it and an air balloon with the resemblance of a Meowth appeared.

"Come on, we will reach Ambrette Town in minutes" Serena was excited about riding the Air Balloon while Dawn looked at it with apprehension.

"Sorry if I'm not that… lively about traveling in that thing" said the coordinator.

James looked at her and smiled "Don't worry, I give you my word that I won't steal any of your Pokémon"

Dawn still wasn't convinced, but their previous cooperative battle induced her to accept "Let's go then"

Serena was a bit wary now of the purple haired man, why would he steal someone's Pokémon?

After a few minutes in the air, Ambrette Town was now right under them, looking for a good place to land, James started their descend.

"So why are you here?" asked Dawn

The balloon landed and the three of them got down, allowing him to pack the balloon again "The people you saw is part of an organization called Team Flare, after our disband we looked for some things that were left behind in our HQ, but we were attacked by them"

"Why would they attack you? And what is it about you guys disbanding?" Dawn was now totally confused, she didn't know Team Rocket had disbanded, sure they were gone from Kanto almost at the end of her journey but she didn't thought they had separated.

"Didn't the twerp-I mean Ash, tell you? He stopped our boss's final plan to conquer the world, and not only that… Giovanni died that day trying to control Zekrom's power"

Now something was filling Serena with dread… Had Ash killed someone?

"James?" The man turned to look at the honey-blond girl "You said that your boss died… did Ash…"

"No… Ash had stopped him already but Giovanni was so determined to control that power… he died when Zekrom used a Bolt Strike"

The assurance that Ash had not killed a man filled her now with relief "Thanks Arceus…"

The three of them started walking to the Fossil Lab "So you guys aren't bad anymore?"

"Yeah, but we are still operating to stop Team Flare's plans… whatever those might be" he answered leaving out the fact that Team Flare had stolen an important object from the HQ.

"I see… well if you need our help just call and we will help, Ash would be more than willing to stop Team Flare's plans if they are bad"

James just smirked and shook his head "So the twerp is also here?"

"Yeah but He and Brock are in the Battle Chateau"

Once in the Fossil Lab Dawn looked at Serena "You wanted that Aerodactyl… but what are you gonna do with the Jaw Fossil?"

"I'll give it to Ash, I'm sure he will love it"

The three of them then asked for their fossils to be revived, the scientist in charge made a quick explanation about how to take care of a fossil and about their inhibited instincts, what to do and what not to do.

While Serena was preparing to receive Aerodactyl and Tyrunt, James had revived his fossils and Dawn was now waiting for hers.

"Sorry for the delay"

"No problem Serena, did you sent your Pokémon back to Professor Sycamore?"

"Actually… my Pokémon stays at Ash's place with his father, He has been allowed to receive our Pokémon, and I didn't I just wanted to ask Red about Aerodactyl"

Dawn smirked at this "You two are almost like a married couple"

Serena blushed a very dark red "Stop it Dawn!"

James approached them with a smile "Well girls, I have to get going but I'll see you tomorrow at the PokéCenter"

The girls accepted and said goodbye to him, after a few minutes the scientist came back with Dawn's Pokémon "Here you go lady, Amaura and Kabuto" ash she received them the two balls shone and teleported themselves to Rowan's lab.

"I think I have to make a call tomorrow morning"

Serena smiled at her and asked for her fossils to be revived, the scientist took them and walked back into the reanimation room.

"That's why I counted my team first, you could sent one of your Pokémon back until you give Brock his Pokémon"

"I think I'll do the that, at least until I give Brock his Kabuto"

After a few minutes the scientist came back and gave Serena her new Pokémon "Here you go, an Aerodactyl and Tyrunt… by the way, along the stone were the Old Ampere was incrusted we found this strange rock, but we can't figure out what it is or what it does, so if you come to across information during your travels we would love to hear it"

Serena took the marble-like stone, it was pretty and had a strange purple pattern inside "I'll see what I can find and let you know" agreed the girl.

"Thank you very much, have a good day!"

Both girls waved at the scientist whose name will remain unknown and started walking back to the PokéCenter while admiring the stone.

"What could it be?" asked Dawn

"I don't know… but I feel like it is important" answered Serena putting the stone into her bag "Anyway, let's hurry up, I'm tired and a good shower would be good"

"Your Ash must be dying right now for not having you there"

"We had this conversation earlier, he is fine and totally not dependent of me"

While both girls continued traveling to the PokéCenter, our friends at the Battle Chateau…

"I can't take it anymore!"

"Come on Ash, tomorrow is the last day…"

"I don't care Brock, I want to see her now!"

Due to the losses suffered by the noblemen at the hands of Ash and his friends, just a few remained with enough money to keep fighting, this had prompted Hennessy to end the event at the fifth day.

Lucy approached him and tried to calm her friend "Hey now, Serena would feel horrible if you just quit because of her, besides she is fine…"

This managed to calm Ash a bit, Lucy was right, Serena wouldn't like it if he left the event just for her.

"…although there are probably a lot of guys trying to ask her out now that you've been away for four days"

Brock tried to stop his now berserker friend, who was punching and kicking to get out of the Chateau "You are not helping Lucy!"

"Hehehe sorry I couldn't resist… come on Ash you know she wouldn't date anyone else just because you are away, have some fate in your girlfriend"

Ash calmed down once again and chose to sit down in a near chair, he was about to say something when he noticed Clara approaching "Hello young man"

"Hello ma'am how can I help you?"

"You see, after our battle my little Turtwig has been motivated, I've never seen him so determined to get stronger… would you give this old lady another battle before I continue?"

Ash agreed and walked along with Clara and his friends to one of the free battle grounds.

 **P.B.S**

 **Battle Start**

"Gastly I choose you!"

"Turtwig time for your rematch!"

Turtwig saw his opponent and got fired up, it was the same boy that had beaten him.

"Turtwig, begin with a Vine Whip and get him close to you then use crunch!"

"Let it bind you and wait to be close…"

The Vine Whips wrapped Gastly and pulled him towards Turtwig and just as it was about to bite the ghost type

"…now use Protect into Infestation and Will o Wisp!"

The protection move was fast enough to negate the bite damage, Turtwig was struck with both the Bug type move and the Fire type move, feeling his energy being drained again.

"Turtwig no! Use Leech Seed into Mega Drain!"

Ash didn't have time to react as he got too confident and though the grass type was done, the two attacks hit their target and begun to absorb Gastly's energy.

"Good job my dear Turtwig now use Synthesis into Razor Leaf!"

"Gastly you have to get out of there!"

But it was too late for the ghost type, the effect of the Leech Seed was making him slower and he couldn't react on time.

Ash could see Gastly's life point approaching dangerously the red zone, he was about to try another attack when suddenly Gastly started to glow.

"Is evolving!" Brock had seen this happen before but he found himself marveled just like it was his first time.

Now instead of Gastly, Haunter was once more ready to fight, although his life points had increased a bit, he was still too exhausted. Turtwig was in the same predicament, although he was draining Haunter, the Infestation and Will o Wisp were still draining him a lot.

"Turtwig try once more with Razor Leaf!"

"Haunter use Shadow Punch from above!"

Haunter did as his trainer commanded and used Shadow Punch, Turtwig stopped to try and evade but it was impossible, the punch struck him from above just like planned.

 **Turtwig can't continue**

"That was great Haunter!" the black haired trainer congratulated his Pokémon while it played around him and licked him.

Brock approached both trainers and started tending their wounds.

Clara then looked at Ash "I knew I was making the right choice"

"What do you mean?"

Clara approached her Turtwig and nodded lightly at him "I want you to take Turtwig with you"

"But he is your Pokémon, I can't take him like that!"

"This little one is starving for much more than just take care of an old farm with an old lady, I know he loves me enough to not ask impossible from me, but I don't want to make him ditch his dreams… I'm asking you to take him and make him into a champion"

Ash saw that Turtwig was looking at him with respect too, expecting him to say yes.

"Is not going to be easy, I love all my Pokémon but training is hell"

( **"Bring it on!"** )

"Then welcome to the team"

Before Ash could accept he remembered that he already had his team full "But before that, let me arrange my team to receive him"

The two of them walked to a near phone stationed in one of the resting rooms, he called his father and sent him Arrow and Charizard, once at the other side the two of them looked at their trainer to wait for instructions "Charizard, you are in charge of the regular training, do your magic"

The fire type acknowledged his instructions and Arrow waited for his "Arrow, I want you to look for Pidgeot and tell him that I want him to train you, Charizard will help if there is time"

The little Fletchling accepted and chirped happily "Now I'll call you both very soon, I'll keep rotating everyone so you better keep your training up!"

And with that the call ended, Turtwig had seen how loyal that two Pokémon were to Ash, which meant that he was a good person and trainer, this only made him want to go with him more.

"Ok, I'm ready"

"Wait Ash" Said trainer turned to his friend Brock "Hey Haunter, how would you like to evolve to your final stage?"

This idea marveled the Ghost type, he had wanted for a long time to evolve to his final stage and be on pair with his brothers back home, but he hadn't been able to evolve into a Haunter until now to do so.

Ash noticed the glint on Haunter's eyes and seemed to like the idea "Well… if you really want to do it I'm all for it, but how are we going to do that?"

"Allow me…" He walked to the trading machine "… Put Haunter in his Pokéball and put it here, and Clara if you would be so kind to put Turtwig into his Pokéball and put it there" he said signaling the two spaces of the Trading Machine.

Clara and Ash did as told and Brock started the machine, once done Turtwig was in Ash's hands while Haunter was in Clara's, Brock asked her to let him out and as soon as she did it started glowing again.

For the second time in that day Ash had seen his Gastly evolve, he had never evolved a Pokémon that fast.

Clara then gave him back his Gengar "congratulations Ash, it seems like you won more than just money"

"Although I didn't want to participate in this event for the money…"

"Well, think about it like this, once you are out of here you can look for your girlfriend and take her to the best date ever" said the old woman.

This seemed to light Ash's mood, she was right after all "Yeah, Serena might like a good date!"

Clara approached Turtwig and petted him softly, saying her goodbye "Take good care of this little guy for me"

"I will… wait a minute" Ash quickly looked for some paper and a pen and started writing something "… This is my number… well not mine but Serena's, we are always together except for this damned event, so if you want to say hi to Turtwig just call"

"I'll do that, thank you very much my boy, and see you later Turtwig, take care and grow stronger" Turtwig gave her a happy nod.

And with that the old lady started walking to the exit.

"I think we should go to sleep, it was a very eventful day" said Brock.

The other two agreed and walked back into their respective rooms, Ash returned Gengar and Turtwig into their Pokéballs and entered his room to prepare for the night.

Morning of the next day – Ambrette Town.

Dawn was finishing changing into her new clothes, a pair of short jeans with a white shirt and a black sleeveless jacket with brown boots that had pink laces(think of Touko's clothes) she had tied her hair into a high ponytail and passed it through the strap enclosure gap behind of her new cap.

"How do I look guys!?"

Piplup, Pachirisu, Togekiss and Ampere gave her thumbs ups, and complimented their trainer, Lopunny still didn't thought it was that good while Rufflet just looked through the window not really caring about fashion at all.

"Four out of six, considering that one of them doesn't like fashion that much and the other one is a party pooper, I'll take it as a yes!"

Now that offended Lopunny slightly ( **"I'm not a party pooper at all!"** ) She looked at her friends for support.

( **"Well… you are certainly special"** ) said Piplup.

( **"You just have different likes"** ) it was Pachirisu this time.

( **"…You are a good friend?"** ) That was Ampere… and was that doubt at the end?

( **"At least I like to play around with the others even if I don't like fashion"** ) that one was Rufflet… ok that hurt.

"I'm sorry Lopunny, I didn't want to offend you, but you shouldn't be so uptight, relax once in a while" Said Dawn petting her Pokémon.

Lopunny accepted her apologize, then turned around to see her friends already playing around… but it was Ampere who really stood out from the group, she was hyperactive, funny, kind, much like a certain male Pikachu ( **"That must be the reason he likes her more than me"** )

"Now guys, I need to retrieve Amaura to get to know her better and Kabuto to give it to Brock, Togekiss and Rufflet are out of question, they are training for our routine…" Ruffled was about to volunteer but this killed his hopes "…one of you will come back to me after I finish, but the other one will stay a few more days until I finish deciding the next performance"

Lopunny and Pachirisu offered to go back, the little squirrel had made a lot of friends in Rowan's lab and wanted to play with them.

"Alright then, let's go retrieve our new friend"

Just as she was leaving her room Serena was leaving hers, Dawn greeted her noticing that she was wearing her new clothes "You will certainly make people look at you… at least Ash won't take his eyes away"

Serena spun around smiling "Thank you, but you look pretty cool in that too"

Serena's new outfit consisted of a pair of green tinted short jeans with suspenders, a baggy yellow mid-sleeve shirt, green boots with some yellow patterns, and her hair was tied in a low ponytail with a long bang to her left (this was the best description I could come with… but you can search for it as Serena Hipster, should be the first image)

"Alright let's get going" said Dawn.

Once at the lobby Dawn went to the phone and called Professor Rowan to change Lopunny and Pachirisu.

At that moment James entered the PokéCenter and saw Serena who was looking at her friend "A new look for a new day I guess"

Serena turned around and saw James approaching, she still had a lot of questions regarding the guy and the group he used to belong, but she would ask Ash later "Good morning, yeah we wanted to try something new"

"I'm guessing you are ready to go then? Would you be so kind to give this to Ash for me?" he gave her a letter with an R as a seal.

"Sure, no problem" Serena put the letter away and looked at Dawn who was by now almost done with the second transfer.

"So you are Ash's girlfriend… who would have told he was going to find someone when we weren't looking for him anymore"

"Hehe… but why is it so surprising?"

"Well, he has travelled with other girls, and some of them were interested in him, even girls that he just met once or twice to battle or fight against us developed a crush on the guy, but he wouldn't even turn their way. It was like Pokémon was everything he could think of"

This surprised Serena, Dawn had told him that Ash used to act dense when it came to love, but being that dense?

"Well… I don't know if being his childhood friend has something to do… we knew each other since I had 6 years, but I had to move from Pallet Town when I turned 9"

James smiled at the girl "Childhood love, one of the purest may I say…" It was at this moment that Dawn approached both of them.

"Hey James, was there something you wanted to tell us?"

"Yeah, I prepared a little gift for you and a kind of apology for following the twerp back in the old days"

He walked out of the PokéCenter followed by the girls "Are you girls ready to go back to the Battle Chateau?"

"Yeah that was the plan but we will have to check if there is any transportation departing soon to Camphrier Town" answered Serena.

"Well then you don't have to worry because James will solve your problems!" He took out a familiar small cube and gave it to Serena "Throw it as hard and far as you can"

The honey-blond girl did as told and threw the cube, which opened and revealed an Air Balloon but instead of a Meowth this one had the form of a Pikachu.

"Woo! Are you sure we can have this?" Asked Serena excited at the prospect of flying at a slow pace while traveling.

Dawn looked at the balloon and then to James "Why?"

"To be honest with you, we would like to know that you guys have some mean of escape if you find the strongest members of Team Flare, or if we need help to get rid of them… I can tell you that they are very dangerous…" He looked at Serena "Part of the reasons are explained in the letter I gave you, be sure to give it to Ash"

"Understood, then we will accept it" answered Serena.

James smiled at them and started walking away "We will see each other again… hopefully in a better situation"

The girls got into the Balloon and started floating in direction to route 7.

Meanwhile in the Battle Chateau.

"In a few minutes our final event will begin, I'll ask the winner Ash Ketchum with an undefeated record and longest winning strike to please go to the battle grounds" Announced Hennessy.

Ash made his way to the battle ground, a lot of the noblemen present looked at him with resentment, while others where interested on what would the Sinnoh League Champion do against a Grand Duke like Hennessy who had a lot of experience in battle.

Pikachu went to Brock to see the battle, he knew that this was training for the newcomers, so he wouldn't be joining at the moment.

Once in the battle ground Ash faced Hennessy and took out his PokéDex while the old man extended an arm, showing a bracelet with a P.B.S.

"This will be a 3 vs 3 fight, winner gets the maximum expression of honor and glory while the loser pays his respects and walk away… Trainer Ash Ketchum, how much money do you have from your battles?" asked the referee

"Fourteen millions"

The referee looked at Hennessey "How much would you like to bet, Grand Duke Hennessy?"

"Fourteen millions"

Ash's eyes just widened at this, so this guy was planning on making him walk away empty handed if he lost… well, he would get another think coming… after all he had a date to pay.

 **P.B.S**

 **Battle Begin!**

"Froakie I choose you!"

"Go Haxorus! Let's start this with your Dragon Claw!"

Haxorus ran towards Froakie and just as he was about to reach him, Ash issued his command.

"Froakie evade and use Ice beam!"

The frog-like Pokémon got out of the way and glowed a faint light before using the super effective move against the dragon type.

Ash saw the information about his Pokémon and noticed his Ability: Protean.

Haxorus energy got down to the yellow mark, which was about half of his overall energy.

"Haxorus use Dragon Pulse into Rock Tomb!"

"Froakie use Dig and then Icy Wind!"

Just as the Dragon Pulse was about to hit him, Froakie made a hole in the ground and started moving towards Haxorus. The Dragon type didn't know where to release his rock type move and was too busy looking for the frog-like Pokémon to think about it.

Hennessy was about to command his Pokémon to use another move when Froakie got out of the ground and struck Haxorus hard, then proceeded to use Icy wind which damaged it even more and had slowed him down.

"Nice job Froakie, let's finish this"

"Haxorus use Outrage!"

"Froakie use Grass Knot!"

The Dragon Type rushed towards the Water type but he didn't go far before stumbling and hitting the ground hard, losing what little he energy he had.

"First round goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

Murmurs could be heard around about the foreign kid needing a lesson and how Hennessy had lost by mere luck.

"Go Staraptor!" Sent Hennessy.

"Go Nidoran!"

The public laughed at Ash's choice, they had learnt nothing of the previous fight, except for Hennessy. He could see how the young man had become Sinnoh's League Champion if all his Pokémon were this strong.

"Let's give them no chance Staraptor, use Brave Bird!"

The Flying type Pokémon approached at a high speed with all his might and was getting closer and closer when…

"Protect into Horn Drill!"

"What!?"

The protective barrier negated all damage, both Pokémon had recoiled by strength of the impact and Nidoran used this to get under Staraptor and use the OHKO move.

The Bird-like Pokémon tried to get up but it was useless, he had no strength and the pain was unbearable, after a few seconds the **P.B.S** signaled that Staraptor was out of the battle.

"That was awesome Nidoran!" said Ash while going to his Pokémon and petting him.

Hennessy just sighed and returned his Pokémon "You did well old friend…" looking Ash's interactions the old man understood that the boy was no push over "… you've fought well Ash, but let's see how you deal with my last Pokémon. Go Nidoking!"

"Go Gengar! Use Will o Wisp into Infestation!"

"Nidoking evade and use Shadow Ball!"

The Ground type Pokémon managed to evade the two phantom flames but was unable to get away from the infestation, this didn't deter him from using his Ghost type move, only to be dodged quite easily.

"Use Curse into Will o Wisp once again!"

"Nidoking use Ice Punch!"

This time however Nidoking was slower due to the Infestation, and soon enough he started feeling even more heavily due to the Curse and was unable to evade the incoming fire attack this time.

Hennessy saw his Nidoking losing a heavy amount of health and was now on the almost on the red mark.

"Nidoking let's try one more time with Shadow Ball!"

Ash was about to issue his next move, when Gengar looked at him grinning impishly and pointing at himself

"Ok then… you are free to attack at your free will"

Gengar seemed pleased and quickly approached Nidoking, evading the Shadow Ball and getting closer and closer, until he was right in front of his opponent, then started laughed maniacally and started to shine, but this time was for a totally different reason.

A big explosion surrounded the field and created a dense cloud of dirt "What the hell was that?"

Hennessy looked at his **P.B.S** and it showed that his Nidoking had fainted, Ash noticed that a new move appeared on his information window and it showed "Explosion…"

After the dirt settled down everyone could see Gengar lying in the ground with a big smile but swirly eyes while Nidoking was the same but he wasn't smiling.

"What happened?" was the question going through everyone's mind.

"His Gengar used explosion as a last joke… haha… Hahaha!" people started laughing at the ghost Pokémon big finale.

After everyone had calmed down the Referee declared Ash the winner of the event.

"And for your record of perfect victories and defeating every noblemen in the facility, including Grand Duke Hennessey, I grant you the title of Grand Duke Ash!"

Some people were still reluctant to accept this, but said nothing about it and just limited themselves to watch.

After an hour of talking with some people and giving the final touches for the celebration at night Hennessy approached Ash and company "Hello young lads, I was right in letting you come to this event, it has been so long since I tasted defeat but I learned a lot from it… by the way, with the event over you are all free to go back to town, there will be a party at night to celebrate, you can bring Lady Serena and Lady Dawn if you wish, as the celebration itself is not restricted by rank"

"That's great, I think I'll take the offer… although going back too late seems dangerous"

"Hohoho don't worry young lad, each Grand Duke is granted a private Penthouse, one of the reasons that so many of the noblemen were so jealous of your progress… but I wouldn't expect less from a Champion and the son of Red Ketchum"

"You knew?"

"Of course my boy! That battle style… you don't see that everyday"

Brock was the one to ask a question this time "Isn't a Penthouse a little too much?"

"Is not like we ask every Grand Duke to live here, of course their stance is limited but they can stay for five days tops if they so desire, the only other Grand Duke… sorry, Grand Duchess here is the Kalos Champion"

"Wow! Diantha…" Ash was amazed by this, he shared a position with one of the Regional Champions.

"Although she achieved the rank while traveling through Kalos to become the Champion… but I have high expectations for you young man" His gaze went back to the Chateau "The Penthouse has three rooms, each one has its own bathroom; you will notice the rest of the details once you see it"

"Thank you Hennessy, we will be on our way then and be back later" Ash waved a hand while walking to the PokéCenter.

In the PokéCenter.

Serena and Dawn had arrived at Camphrier Town with a good time, the gift James gave them was simply the best.

The girls had finished packing and were about to start walking to the Battle Chateau when Dawn noticed someone running towards them.

"Hey look, is Ash!" this got Serena's attention "I think it will be better to go outside, we don't want him crashing through the door"

Both walked outside but Serena couldn't wait any longer and ran towards him "Ash!"

"Serena!" The boy finally reached his girlfriend and hugged her, lifting her from the ground and kissing her.

"I missed you so much sweetie, have you behaved?"

"Hahaha of course I did honey…"

At that moment Brock and Lucy had arrived, hearing what their friend had said "What a filthy liar! He spent most of the week whining and complaining about you not being there"

"You did?" asked Serena a bit embarrassed by her boyfriend's antics.

Dawn smirked and mumbled an "I told you"

"I missed you! We already spent almost 8 years away from each other…" defended Ash, knowing that he wouldn't be in problems if he played his cards right.

"Owe my poor baby…" Serena kissed him slightly on the lips "…by the way guys, we brought you a surprise"

It was at this moment that the group noticed the changes in the girls.

Brock complimented on their new looks.

But it was Ash who couldn't take his eyes away from her now that he could see her completely " _Damn… those shorts are so thigh… and that shirt lets me see her belly…"_

Serena noticed the absent look on his face, and spun around not knowing what she was doing to him "You like it?"

"… _Her cute round little… wait, she asked a question… what was it? What did my father told me about women asking a question when we are not paying attention… you are right? No that's not it, we are talking about clothes… Oh yeah"_

Ash composed himself "You look stunning…" he took her in his arms and carried her bridal style "You know what screw the party, we will be busy" He looked over his shoulders and looked at the others "See you tomorrow guys"

Serena got very flustered and stopped him in his track "Wait no! That's not the surprise!"

"Is not?" He left her get down looked at her expectantly.

Dawn laughed at her friend and gave a Pokéball to Brock "we got you guys these, sorry Lucy but we couldn't find any more of those"

"Don't worry, you guys did enough by letting me borrow these two to compete in the tournament" answered Lucy.

Brock released the Pokémon inside "Wow… is a real Kabuto!"

Serena gave Ash his "I got you one too"

"Let's see…" He released his new Pokémon too "is a Tyrunt!" He took out his PokéDex to learn more about his new Pokémon.

Dawn then took out a Pokéball along with Serena "We got one for ourselves too" they announced releasing Amaura and Aerodactyl respectively.

Amaura looked at her trainer and squealed happily while nuzzling her right cheek. The coordinator noticed Pikachu looking at her and quickly understood what was happening "Sorry Pikachu, Ampere was exhausted from our travel, but you will see her later, I promise" The small rodent accepted and went back to Ash's shoulder.

Aerodactyl studied his trainer, looking at Serena into her eyes he could see that the girl wasn't afraid of him, which was good, it then got closer to sniff her and after recognizing her as his new trainer it did the same as Amaura and nuzzled his head against her cheek.

Serena happily rubbed Aerodactyl under the chin, which he seemed to like a lot.

Tyrunt was not as exuberant as Aerodactyl when it came to check his trainer, the guy seemed confident enough around him, besides he gave off a strange aura that made him feel calm. The truth was that both Ash and Tyrunt were very excited.

Kabuto was a bit shy, but he seemed ok with Brock.

Ash then remembered why they had gone to the PokéCenter "I would like to hear about your little adventure to get these guys, but that will have to wait for later, there is going to be a party at the Chateau and you two are invited"

Dawn was the first to jump "Yay we will have the chance to try our new dresses!"

The two girls ran back into the Center and to their rooms to get changed, Lucy started walking to Ash and Serena's room "I'll let you guys take our room to change, that way we can all get dressed calmly"

The boys agreed and went to Lucy and Brock's room.

After an hour everyone was ready, Ash was waiting outside of the room for Serena when he heard the door open.

The honey-blond was wearing a beautiful dark blue dress with some light blue patterns on the top and a few white stripes at the bottom. Her shoes were a light blue too which matched perfectly with her dress; her hair was done in a high ponytail with two bangs framing her face.

Serena noticed Ash looking at her with an open mouth and giggled a bit before walking to him "Do you like it?"

"You look beautiful Serena, are you going to take my breath away every time I see you in a dress or with new clothes?"

This commentary made the sky-trainer blush intensely, she was glad that Ash really liked her choice. He didn't look bad either, a white long-sleeved t-shirt with a dark black tux and black pants; matching black shoes and a blue handkerchief on his front pocket. But what really made him look good was that he wasn't wearing a tie, instead he had the collar and first button a bit open.

"You look handsome too" she walked close to him, hugging him slowly.

Ash embraced her and looked at the door "Are the others going to take long?"

"Nah they are almost done, should we wait outside?" Asked Serena which prompted Ash to agree.

After the both of them were out of the Center Ash took out a Pokéball "I changed a few of my Pokémon, I brought Bayleef" he threw it a few feet's from him and released the Grass type.

Bayleef recognized her trainer and the girl with the sweet treats and greeted them happily. Serena opened her bag and searched for a small container, it wasn't big, but it was enough to carry small treats, she opened it and took out a small Pokepuff offering it to the grass-type Pokémon.

Ash was glad to see his Pokémon and Serena getting along so well "It was a long week"

"It was… although I didn't expect you to start going nuts after a day without me" her incredulous face made him feel nervous, looking for some kind of excuse he couldn't provide, Ash decided to change the topic.

"Hey look, the others are coming" once the group reunited, they all started walking towards the Battle Chateau, talking about some of the things that happened while Dawn and Serena were away.

Once in the Battle Chateau Serena could see that some people were looking at Ash with rather distasteful glares "Why are they looking at you like that?"

"Sore losers, don't take them seriously" Answered the young trainer loud enough to be heard by them. They didn't seem to appreciate the commentary but decided to leave the guy alone.

Brock had taken Lucy to the dance floor, the younger trainers could see they were enjoying themselves greatly.

"Hey guys, I'll be in the garden"

Serena and Ash decided to go with her "I'm not a fan of crowded places" said the dark haired trainer; Dawn insisted that he should take Serena to the dance floor but her friend said that they would still hear the music from outside.

Once in the garden they released their Pokémon, Pikachu and Froakie had gone to greet their friends.

Fennekin started talking animatedly with the water type and told him about her little adventure. Lopunny was looking at the stars when Pikachu came to her ( **"Do you want to play with us, Lopunny?"** )

( **"I think I will stay here and look at the stars… they look beautiful tonight"** )

To Pikachu they looked the same as always, but Lopunny had always been a romantic so he decided to concede and went to play with the others.

The bunny-like Pokémon was a bit disappointed that he didn't stay, but that was Pikachu for you; always hyperactive.

While the Pokémon played around Ash was dancing with Serena, which in a sudden movement pulled Dawn and made her dance with the dark haired male.

"Come on, let's take turns"

"But this is your chance to slow dance with your boyfriend"

"I can dance with Ash whenever we want if the opportunity arise, but tonight I want to enjoy the party with my friends"

Ash started dancing and after a few minutes separated from Dawn; Serena took his place and started dancing with her; the girls where giggling while the dark haired trainer just smiled.

Pikachu and Ampere had finished pursuing and tackling each other into the grass, and joined the others near a small fountain in the center of the garden; they had agreed on taking a small break and were now talking about the stuff they liked to do.

It was at this moment that Pikachu turned to look to Ampere, who was busy looking at the stars ( _ **"**_ **The stars look great right?"** )

( **"Yeah… they look great"** ) the problem was that Pikachu wasn't even looking at the sky, he was staring at her.

Only Froakie, who was behind him, had noticed and with a little push brought him back to reality.

( _ **"What the hell was that…? I was staring…"**_ _)_ Not being argue with himself to deny said fact, he stared once more at the female Pikachu and then at the stars ( _ **"They were right… I… I really like her"**_ )

The night was peaceful for our friends, with new friends and discovered feelings they could only wonder what the future would hold for them.

Vaniville Town

Delia and Grace were finishing the dishes while Red checked his son's mails; Ash was always on the move so he or Delia were the ones that kept him informed if there was anything important.

"Seems like everything is ok…" just then a new message arrived "…What is this…" opening the new letter he started reading, and after a few moments he called his wife "Delia you have to see this!"

She went to the pc with her husband and saw him pointing at the screen, taking a look she saw it was a letter for their son "Dear Ash Ketchum, we would like to invite you to the grant event happening in a few weeks on our beloved Shamouti Island, it would be an honor to host the Chosen One and his friends in our festivities"

Grace had heard it all and smirked "Well, it seems like you guys are taking vacations"

"And you are coming with us, I'm sure we can figure something out, but first let me send this to Ash… and a few friends…" Red began resending the letter.

Delia and Grace just sweat dropped at Red's antics but let him be.

It would be the first family vacations in ages.

Somewhere in Shamouti Island:

"Preparations are complete for my revenge, and once the Titans and the Beast of the Sea become mine, the Ruler of Fire will try to bring order… and at that moment he and his guardians too, will be part of my collection"

* * *

 **There it is!**

 **It took me more than I was expecting, although I wasn't expecting being hospitalized for so long… most of this chapter was ready before so it was still fast.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, is the longest thing I've wrote in any of my fics, I still can't believe it.**

 **Leave your review and tell me what you thought about this chapter, they help me know if the story is going in the right direction. Suggestions too are always taken into consideration.**

 **See you guys in the next chapter!**


	10. Notice

Important notice in Profile, please read.


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